CAMBRIDGE, Mass.  - The Coast Guard Academy women's swimming & diving team was defeated on the road in a head-to-head match-up at no. 4 MIT earlier today. Coast Guard mustered five top-three finishes en route to the 53-243 loss. At last season's NEWMAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, the Bears finished as runners-up to the hosting Engineers, whose first-place finish at the event marked their 13th-straight crowning as conference champions.

Coast Guard's first loss of the season puts them at 9-1-1 (6-1 vs. NEWMAC teams), while MIT improves to 5-1 (2-0 vs. NEWMAC teams). The Engineers look ahead to a dual on the road for their next contest as they travel to Williamstown, Massachusetts, to take on reigning NESCAC champions no. 9 Williams College (6-0).

Freshman Samantha Halvorson (Chesapeake, Va.) and senior team captain Ellie Hiestand (Telford, Pa.) accounted for four of the Bears' five top-three finishes, grabbing two each. Halvorson took third in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke events, swimming times of 24.80 in the 50 and 2:10.30 in the 200.

Hiestand placed third in the the 100-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 1:07.23. The senior also had one of the best performances of the meet for Coast Guard with her second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, in which she swam a 2:26.41.

Freshman Colleen Read (Annandale, Va.) had the other top finish for the Bears with her 2:07.04 finish for second place in the 200-yard backstroke. In diving, sophomore Lara Baronsky (Victory, N.Y.) scored 127.06 on the 1-meter board.

The Bears will get to stay home for their next round of competition on Saturday, January 18th, in which they'll host the Merchant Marine Academy (5-2). Coast Guard has a perfect 8-0 record vs. the Mariners in the annual rivalry meet dating back to the 2005-06 season. Last year's contest saw the Bears score 187 points to Kings Points' 101.