2023 Northeast Conference Champs: Pascual Del Cid Splits Sub-20 50 Free

2023 NORTHEAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 21 – Saturday, February 25, 2023
• SPIRE Institute, Geneva, Ohio
• Live results on Meet Mobile: 2023 NEC Swimming and Diving Championship
• Defending Champions: Bryant 5x (Women), Bryant 2x (Men)
• Pre-scratch Psych Sheet
• Live Video
• Estimated Timeline
• Championship Central
• Live Results

DAY 1 RESULTS

DAY 2 RESULTS

Team Scores Men:

1. Howard — 228
2. Long Island — 221
3. St. Francis College — 148
4. Wagner — 140

Team Scores Women:

1. Central Connecticut State — 223.5
2. Howard — 178
3. Wagner — 166
4. Long Island — 148
5. Sacred Heart — 139.5
6. Saint Francis University — 98
7. St. Francis College — 80
8. Merrimack — 54
9. Stonehill — 40

The second night of action got off to a hot start for the Central Connecticut State women, with the Blue Devils taking the top three spots in the 500-yard freestyle finals. Senior Katie Czulewicz won in a time of 4:55.45, ahead of Abbey Keane in 4:56.26, and Shannon Welcome in 4:56.92. 

On the men’s side, there was an incredibly close race between St. Francis College freshman Valentin Schnermann and 2022 Northeast Conference champion Luke-Kennedy Thompson from Howard University. Schnermann ended up prevailing, out-touching Thompson by just 0.02 — 4:28.77 to 4:28.79. The upset was furthered by the fact that both men swam under Thompson’s 2022 Northeast Conference record of 4:29.00, but Schnermann will now own the 2023 Northeast conference title and conference record with his swim.

Howard University picked up their first win of the night in the women’s 200-yard IM finals. Michaela Spears hit the wall first in 2:03.31, with Central Connecticut State’s Cassidy Stotler picking up second in 2:04.41. Men’s 500-yard freestyle runner-up Luke-Kennedy Thompsons’s sister, Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson secured third place for Howard, swimming a 2:04.53.

The second Northeast Conference record of the night was broken in the men’s 200-yard IM final: Howard University’s Miles Simon swam a dominant time of 1:46.80 to break the former conference record by over two seconds, and beat the second place swimmer, Long Island’s  Stephen Taylor, by almost six seconds. Long Island picked up third place in the event as well, with Lovro Dodic touching the wall in 1:52.96.

Long Island University had an impressive showing in the women’s 50-yard freestyle final with Maaike Broersma out-touching her teammate Venna Andersen by 0.02 to win in 23.20. Central Connecticut State’s Kelly Stotler was close behind in third, finishing with a time of 23.56.

In this morning’s prelims, Long Island’s Alejandro Pascual Del Cid broke his own conference record in the 50-yard freestyle with a 20.06. Tonight, he repeated his conference title, winning a tight finals race in 20.09 ahead of Howard University’s Mark-Anthony Beckles’ time of 20.12. 

The Long Island University men and women were again champions in the final event of the night, the 200-yard medley relay. The Long Island women swam a winning time of 1:41.67, ahead of Howard University in second (1:43.94), and Wagner College in third (1:44.18). The women’s 50-yard freestyle champion from earlier in the evening, Maaike Broersma, led off the Pioneer women with a 25.23, swimming the fastest backstroke split of the field.

The Long Island men topped the field with a time of 1:28.90, less than 0.3 tenths off of the conference record. The men’s 50-yard freestyle champ, Alejandro Pascual Del Cid, anchored the Pioneer men in a blazing 19.41 split, and was the only freestyler in the field to dip under the 20-second barrier. Long Island was followed by Howard University in 1:29.81, and St. Francis College in 1:30.22.

Sacred Heart University saw some serious points form the women’s 3-meter diving event, with four divers in finals, and junior Olivia McNicholas winning the event. Central Conneticut State divers Zoe Baker and Jewelle Maziarz claimed second and third.