The Bowdoin College men’s and women’s swim teams opened the season on Saturday with a dual meet against WPI and MIT.

In the women’s competition, the Polar Bears split with a 171-129 win over the Engineers of WPI, while falling 213-87 against the Engineers of MIT.

Sterling Dixon posted three first-place finishes for Bowdoin. The sophomore posted a 5:14.86 in the 500 freestyle and 1:54.74 in the 200. Dixon also earned a first place finish in the 200 butterfly (2:07.56). Marshall Lowery made her collegiate debut with a top finish in the 100 backstroke (58.45).

The men also split, downing MIT, 232-67 and falling to WPI, 184-116.

Daniel Williams secured an individual first-place result in the 1,000 yard free. The sophomore finished in 10:02.57, over seven seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Karl Sarier turned in a pair of top finishes to begin his sophomore campaign. Sarier posted a 1:41.93 in the 200 free and 46.40 in the 100. Mitchell Ryan returned to the pool with a 317.85-point showing in the 3-meter diving event to earn first.

The Polar Bears host the Maine State meet Dec. 2-3.

Cross country

Bowdoin’s Sarah Kelley and Nick Walker raced to strong finishes on Saturday at the NCAA Division III Championship meet at E.P “Tom” Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.

Walker finished 47th in the men’s 8k race (25:04.5), while Kelley took 54th in the women’s 6k race (21:39.9).

In windy conditions, Walker finished ninth among New England entrants, capping a solid senior campaign. He finished just 1:24.5 off the winning pace.

Kelley was the seventh-best New England finisher and used a big push to rise up the final standings. Sitting in 76th place after 4K, she rose 24 spots over the final third of the race.