NEW LONDON, N.H. – Senior Kyra Donahue (Methuen, Mass.) took the spotlight as she placed within the top-three in all of her events while claiming a pair of wins to lead the Plymouth State University women's swimming team in the season-opening dual meet at Colby-Sawyer on Saturday afternoon.
 
Donahue sparked her momentum early as she claimed victory in the 100-yard butterfly as she bested the competition by two seconds. She rode her early success through her next two events, when she took second-place finishes in the 50-yard butterfly and 100-yard IM. Donahue was outmatched by less than a second in the 50-yard fly and trailed the leader in the 100-yard IM by just one second.
 
Donahue capped off her season debut with a second win, this time in the 200-medley relay, as she teamed up with freshman Jackie Gaigals (Methuen, Mass.), sophomore Sam Morales-Barszcz (Meriden, Conn.) and senior Jessica McGregor (New Boston, N.H.) with a dominant time of 2:10.83.
 
Despite her strong performance, Colby-Sawyer took home the win, 164-86.
 
Plymouth State starts the year 0-1 in dual meets, while Colby-Sawyer wins its season debut.
 
The Basics:

• Plymouth State 86, Colby-Sawyer 164
  • Plymouth State (0-1)
  • Colby-Sawyer (1-0)

Individual Event Top Finishes:

• Kyra Donahue (First – 100 Fly; Second – 50 Fly, 100 IM)
• Jessica McGregor (Second – 50 Breast, 100 Breast)
• Jackie Gaigals (Second – 100 Free)

Teaming Up:

• Kyra Donahue, Jackie Gaigals, Sam Morales-Barszcz, Jessica McGregor
  • (First – 200 Medley Relay)

How it Happened:

• Freshman Adriana Cepeda (Boston, Mass.) started off her career with a second-place finish in the 200-yard IM in 3:03.47.
• Freshman Paige Lee (Stratham, N.H.) and Gaigals tag-teamed in the 200-yard freestyle as the duo placed second and third, finishing in 2:27.55 and 2:29.33, respectively.
• McGregor snagged her first second-place finish in the 50-yard breaststroke after clocking in a time of 35.41 seconds.
• Donahue kickstarted her debut by winning the first event for the Panthers in the 100-yard fly after touching the wall in 1:06.80.
• Gaigals and Cepeda took on the 100-yard freestyle and came away with another second and third place pairing.
• Lee grabbed a top-three finish in the 100-yard backstroke as she finished in 1:16.73.
• Donahue took second in the 50-yard fly (28.67) and 100-yard IM (1:08.88), while Gaigals and McGregor took third in each of those events.
• McGregor capped her day with another second-place finish with sophomore Liana Gobin (Belfast, Maine) right behind her in 1:36.16.
• The 200-yard medley relay took home another victory for the Panthers, while the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Cepeda, Gobin, Lee and Morales-Barszcz placed third in 2:05.07.

 
Up Next:

• The Panthers are back in action next Saturday (Nov. 5) at the Louise Goodrum Invitational hosted by UMass Dartmouth. Events begin at 11:00 a.m.