EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — The Hunter College women's swimming team turned in one of its strongest outings of the season at the East Coast Athletic Conference Winter Championships this weekend, highlighted by a record-breaking performance from standout rookie Grace Valette.
Valette delivered a dominant showing, shattering the program record in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:58.27. She followed it up with an electric swim in the 100-yard freestyle, breaking both the Hunter College record and the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) record after touching in 54.04. With those marks — plus a strong 1:02.32 in the 100-yard backstroke — Valette qualified for Spring ECACs in all three events, continuing a sensational freshman campaign.
The momentum carried throughout the roster, as nearly every Hawk posted improvements in either season or career times, underscoring the squad's progress as it heads into the back half of the season.
In the 200-yard freestyle, rookie Lily Bradshaw impressed with a 2:19.53, followed by Gwendolyn Posner at 2:23.0, Molly Nettles at a career-best 2:26.46, and Denisse Rojas at 2:36.11.
Hunter had a strong showing in the 100-yard freestyle as well, where three additional swimmers dipped under the one-minute barrier. Lian Winter and Bradshaw each touched in 59.84, a career-best for Winter, with Cara Chang close behind at a season-best 59.92. Parvinabonu Makhmadalieva posted a careerl-best 1:02.62, followed by Annie Huang at 1:04.75 and Rojas at 1:10.77.
In the breaststroke events, Mia Chang led the charge in the 100-yard with a 1:18.45, followed by her sister C. Chang at 1:19.52. Makhmadalieva clocked in at 1:23.28, while Posner following with a career-best 1:24.08. Nettles and Imani Chisolm rounded out the group with times of 1:27.04 and 1:35.98, respectively. The Chang sisters continued their momentum in the 200-yard breaststroke, with M. Chang hitting 2:51.71 and C. Chang finishing at 2:56.71. Nettles recorded another career-best 3:08.32, followed by Chisolm at 3:36.37.
The Hawks saw additional drops in the 100-yard backstroke, where Anastasiia Lyshyk swam a personal-best 1:12.35, just edging teammate Bradshaw at 1:12.37. Hailey-Madison Quiller followed in 1:15.94, with Chisholm posting 1:23.98 and Rojas 1:24.68.
Quiller and Lyshyk also raced in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing in 1:11.83 and 1:19.16, respectively.
Hunter returns to competition in the new year, traveling to Kings Point, N.Y., for a tri-meet against John Jay and USMMA on Jan. 6.
