CCSU Wins Northeast Conference For 2nd Straight Year

2016 WOMEN’S NORTHEAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 24- Saturday, February 27, 2016
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (Eastern Time Zone)
• Wednesday Timed Finals 8PM, Prelims 10AM / Finals 6PM (Thurs-Sat)
• Defending Champion: Central Connecticut (2015 results and recap here.)
• Live Results
• Championship Central
• NEC Teams: Bryant, Central Connecticut, Long Island University- Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner College

1650 Free

1. Maggie Shaw 17:12.68
2. Haley Fournier 17:25.83
3. Erin Daly 17:28.99

Wagner’s Shaw was the 3rd place finisher in the 500 free on day 2 of the meet and was runner up in this event last year, she was out fast from the start, breaking away from the pack by the 200-yard mark. At the 2015 championships, both Fournier and Daly swam faster times than that of this year, but place 3rd and 5th respectively. This year, the pace to follow was 7 seconds slower than last years, where the winning time was 17:05.38.

200 Back

1. Aidan Devers 1:59.40
2. Nathalie Meyers 2:02.18
3. Stephanie Czulewicz 2:02.61

500 free and 400 IM runner up, Devers finally got her 1st place finish in the 200 back, being the only swimmer of the meet to break the 2 minute barrier. Meyers, who also finished 2nd in the 100 back, improved on her prelims time of 2:03.24 for a spot on the podium. Devers teammate, Czulewicz, who placed 2nd in the 200 IM, also contributed valuable points to CCSU on the final day of the meet, when she clocked in 3rd just behind Meyers.

100 Free

1. Christine Rasile 49.68
2. Oleksandra Kashyrina 50.54
3. Katie Lafferty 51.19

Rasile wrapped up her trio of victories over the weekend finishing the 100 free as the only swimmer to break 50 seconds in the individual event, and making a NCAA ‘B-cut’. She also improved on her victory time from last year’s championships (50.60), as well as improved on her overall performances. This year she won the 50 free in a new meet record (23.00), the 200 free, breaking 1 minute 50 seconds in both prelims (1:49.76) and finals (1:48.76) and the 100 free (49.68), at the 2015 championships she placed 4th in the 50 free (23.60), and won both the 200 (1:49.79) and the 100 free (50.60) but in times slower than what she did this year.

Kashyrina racked up 2nd place points for the blackbirds, touching just ahead of 500 free champion and 200 free runner up; Lafferty of Saint Francis. Lauren Rasile of CCSU was 3rd in this event last year (51.79), and although she improved her time this year (51.29), she fell short of a podium spot, tying with Anu Nihipali of Wagner for 4th.

200 Breast

1. Maddy Garber 2:13.66
2. Milly Furneaux 2:14.58
3. Mary Kish 2:16.56

CCSU’s Garber finally made it to the top of the podium after a 3rd place finish in the 200 IM and 2nd place finish in the 100 breast, winning the 200 breast in a NCAA ‘B-cut’ time of 2:13.66. At last year’s championships, she had a stronger 1st and 3rd 50 than that of this year, and won the event in 2:13.37.

Although Garber’s winning time was just off of her 2015 championship time, the 2nd and 3rd place finishers this year were significantly faster then those of 2015; Maggie Slocomb (2:16.66) and Katja Claesson (2:18.08). This year, Claesson was 4th in 2:16.84.

200 Fly

1. Amanda Lucia 2:01.26
2. Sabree Thomas 2:04.16
3. Jamie Schaefer 2:04.39

400 IM champion and 100 fly runner up, Lucia won the 200 fly in 2:01.26, seconds off of her 2015 championship time of 1:59.34, but still dominated the field, finishing almost 3 seconds ahead of the 2nd place finisher. Thomas moved up from her 6th place finish at last years championships, dropping over two seconds this year.

3m Diving

1. Kelci Abernethy 250.25
2. Ann Burdick 230.85
3. Erica Curry 218.70

400 Free Relay

1. CCSU 3:25.35
2. Wagner 3:26.97
3. Blackbirds 3:27.27

With a strong performance in the 100 free, having 3 of the 4 400 free relay members in the A final, there was no surprise that CCSU finished up the meet with another victory, making it 4 of 5 relay wins for the 2016 championships. The A team of Christine (50.44), Alaina Papiro (52.34), Lauren (51.76) and Lauren Czulewicz (50.81) were out ahead of the field on the first leg and managed to keep the position showing their sprint freestyle strength.

FINAL TEAM SCORES

1. CCSU: 797
2. Wagner: 727
3. Bryant: 543
4. Saint Francis University: 463
5. LIU Blackbirds: 417
6. Mount Saint Mary’s: 193
7. Sacred Heart: 180
8. St. Francis College: 121