The Lehman College women's swimming and diving team (3-4 Overall, 2-0 CUNYAC) took a huge step towards solidifying themselves as a contender for a conference championship this season as the Lightning upset the Hunter College Hawks (3-4 Overall, 2-1 CUNYAC) by a score of 116-114 Saturday afternoon at the APEX Aquatics Center in the Bronx. The victory was Lehman College's third straight triumph, and the win also pulled the Lightning even with Baruch for first place in the conference with both schools holding identical 2-0 CUNYAC records.

After getting off to a slow start in the early part of the meet against Hunter College, the Lightning responded with the help of their newly constructed diving team by capturing the top three places on the 1 meter board with Aura Montano scoring 106.88 points, good for a first place finish. Montano also won the 3-Meter event and was one of three Lehman women to record two victories on the afternoon. In addition, Jessica Espinal won the 200 IM in 2:35.69, which is a personal record time for her, and she recorded a time of 1:01.03 in the 100 Freestyle competition, improving on her school record time for the fourth time this season.  Basilisa Alonso won the 100 Butterfly event with a season's best time of 1:10.60, and she captured the 500 Freestyle, with a season's best finish of 6:33.70. Following the meet, Head Coach Peter Kiernan gave his thoughts on this great victory for the program.

“These girls have worked extremely hard, and that first conference victory over John Jay really gave us a tremendous amount of confidence, and we're just a team on a roll right now,” Kiernan said. “We have so many energetic ladies on this team who enjoy being together and want to win, and I just feel this win today lets people know that we're not only progressing, but we're contending. I'm very proud of them.”

The Lightning will return to action on Tuesday evening as Lehman will battle USMMA King's Point in a non-conference meet at the APEX Aquatics Center, with meet-time scheduled for 7:00pm.