Nicole Salzano, Bryant
So., Elmwood Park, NJ/Bergen County Technical
In Bryant’s victory over Holy Cross on Saturday, Salzano led the way for the Bulldogs as she won two individual events along with helping the 200 medley and 200 free relay teams to first place finishes. The sophomore secured her first win in the 1000 free after touching in a time of 10:49.04, then followed up with a victory in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:07.82. The New Jersey native posted NEC top-10 times in both events. Salzano rounded out her day on the winning 200 medley relay (1:50.01) and 200 freestyle relay (1:42.96) teams.
NEC DIVER OF THE WEEK
No Nominations
NEC WOMEN’S SWIMMING ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Jillian Rice, Bryant
Fr., Trumbull, CT/Saint Joseph
In earning her third NEC Rookie of the Week honor of the season, Rice swam to victory in two individual events and helped spark the 200 freestyle relay team to a victory as the Bulldogs took down Holy Cross over the weekend. The freshman’s first win came in the 500 free after clocking in at 5:12.85. Rice would pick up her second victory in the 200 IM as she touched the wall in 2:14.92. Rice and the Bulldogs closed out the meet by winning the 200 freestyle relay in 1:42.96.
Wagner swam to a 166-88 road victory over LIU Brooklyn this past weekend, and in the process set four new pool records. The Seahawks remained undefeated in the NEC and improve to 7-3 in dual meets on the season.
The 200 medley relay squad comprised of Anu Nihipali (Honolulu, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy), Katja Claesson (Fullerton, CA/Troy), Michele Detka (Buckeye, AZ/Verrado), and Dorian McMenemy (Northborough, MA/Algonquin Regional) took down the first record as they touched in a time of 1:46.85. Senior Maggie Shaw (Chantilly, VA/Chantilly) continued the record breaking as she won the 1000 free with a time of 10:43.55, along with a first place finish in the 500 free as she touched in 5:17.17.
Nihipali and Claesson also won a pair of events with each setting pool marks. Nihipali won the 100 backstroke with a record time of 58.42. Claesson established a pool-record time of 2:25.99 in winning the 200 breaststroke. She also finished first in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.91), whike Nihipali picked up a victory in the 100 free (53.63).
Senior Amanda Lucia (Easthampton, MA/Easthampton) swept the butterfly events, posting times of 2:10.02 in the 200 Fly, and 59.66 in the 100 Fly. Sophomores Maddie McNichol (Downingtown, PA/Henderson) and Leahi Camacho (Kailua Kona, HI/Kealakene) also claimed individual wins in the 200 free and 200 IM, respectively.
NEC Swimming & Diving Wrapup
• Bryant swam to a 190-67 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday. NEC Swimmer of the Week Nicole Salzano (Elmwood Park, NJ/Bergen County Tech.), Julia Messina (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy), Taylor Poliseno (Stevenson Ranch, CA/West Ranch) and Dana Yu (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater Raritan) combined to earn a victory in the 200 medley relay after posting a time of 1:50.01. Messina would go on to win the 100 breaststroke while Salzano earned individual victories in the 1000 free (10:49.04) and 200 backstroke (2:07.82). NEC Rookie of the Week Jillian Rice (Trumbull, CT/Saint Joseph) also claimed a pair of individual victories as she finished first in the 500 free (5:12.85) and 200 IM (2:14.92). Rice has now earned three weekly rookie accolades this season. Yu and Lauren Doerrman (Oley, PA/Oley Valley) picked up two individual wins each for the Bulldogs. Yu earned top honors in the 100 freestyle and the 100 butterfly, while Doerrman won the 200 breaststroke along with the 200 butterfly. Kristie Chan (San Francisco, CA/Abraham Lincoln) and Erin Daly (Reading, MA/Reading Memorial) were the final Bulldogs to emerge victorious after finished first in the 50 free and 200 free, respectively.
• Saint Francis U closed out its dual meet season with a victory over Youngstown State. Catherine Rogers (Nokesville, VA/Seton School) took first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:06.00, the sixth-best showing in program history. Rogers also went on to win the 100 butterfly as she touched in 59.70. Katie Lafferty (Bremen, IN/Bremen) earned three wins for the Red Flash as she finished first in the 200 freestyle (1:53.56), the 50 freestyle (23.97) and the 500 freestyle (5:08.11). Her times in the 200 freestyle ranks her eighth all-time at SFU while her 50 freestyle time ties for sixth. Emma Karell (Norrtälje, Sweden/Täby Swim Club) and Sara Dieterich (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetquot) earned wins in the 200 breaststroke (2:27.66) and the 100 backstroke (1:01.69), respectively. The combination of Lafferty, Rogers, Jessie Reilly (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper St. Clair) and Alicia Tiberino (Potomac, MD/Winston Churchill) claimed first in the 200 freestyle relay.
• Central Connecticut picked up a win over Sacred Heart this past weekend. The Blue Devils opened up with a one-two finish in the 200 medley relay. The Blue Devils did one better in the 1000 freestyle event, finishing one-two-three with sophomore Maeve Awiszus (Andover, MA/Andover) winning in 10:51.69. Classmate Lauren Czulewicz (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) would go on to earn an individual victory in the 200 freestyle as she touched in 1:56.32. The Blue Devils would again have a one-two-three finish in the 100 backstroke where freshman Kaitlyn Troy (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central) finished first with a time of 1:00.10. CCSU was also triumphant in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 butterfly where Alaina Papiro (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) and Lisa Ward (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) came out on top, respectively.
• LIU dropped dual meets to Wagner and Northeastern. Oleksandra Kashyrina (Odessa, Ukraine) and Milly Furneaux (Dover, England) earned first place finishes against Northeastern. Furneaux took the 50 breaststroke after posting a time of 30.96 while Kashyrina earned top honors in the 100 freestyle with her time of 53.60.
• St. Francis Brooklyn fell to Ramapo and Manhattan over the weekend. Against the Jaspers, Laura Toth (Sarasota, FL/Riverview) earned a pair of individual victories in the 1000 freestyle (11:03.30) and 100 butterfly (1:05.35). Kristina Hernandez (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) also picked up a win in the 500 freestyle after touching in a time of 5:25.20. Anne Kuczynski (Coral Springs, FL/Marjorie Stoneman Douglas) came in first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.76.
• Jillian Crosby (Port Monmouth, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) earned a victory for Sacred Heart in its dual meet with CCSU as she finished first in the 100 freestyle after touching in a time of 54.84. Teammate Jessica Poole (Shelton, CT/Shelton) also won the 400 IM in 4:54.22.