The Lehman College women's swimming and diving team (1-3 Overall, 1-0 CUNYAC) picked up its first victory of the season as the Lightning turned back the Bloodhounds of John Jay College (0-4 Overall, 0-3 CUNYAC) by a score of 98-89 Monday evening at the APEX Aquatics Center in the Bronx.

Lehman started quickly in the meet, capturing the Medley Relay as Luisa Garcia, Jessica Espinal, Basilisa Alonso, and Judy Espinal cruised to victory in the evening's first official event. The Lightning went on to win a total of eight out of the eleven events contested. Garcia, Alonso, and Espinal won two individual events apiece to go along with their medley relay victory.  The only other event winner for Lehman was recorded by Hyacinth Bouzalakos in the 1000-yard Freestyle, who participated in that event for the first time ever and was just seconds off the school record set in 2001. Following the meet, Head Coach Peter Kiernan was very happy to see his team secure their first win.

“These ladies have been working hard all season, and they've been getting better with each passing meet, so to see their hard work finally pay off with a victory is thrilling,” Kiernan said. “Now, we'll hope to build on this and with our performances getting better and better, I think this group has a chance to be special.”

Overall, the young squad continues to improve with 20 best times recorded in the 30 individual swims with three relay bests on the young season. The distance group is providing tremendous support, and the rookies, Jordan Perez and Tanaka Nyemba improve daily. Garcia, Alonso and Espinal will represent Lehman in individual events at the DIII ECAC Championships and will be joined by Joanne Gonsalves-Barreiro and Jessica Espinal on relays.

Next up is a double dual meet between the collegiate seafarers of SUNY Maritime and USMMA on Monday, December 1st with meet time scheduled for 6:30pm.