Katie Lafferty, Saint Francis U
So., Bremen, IN/Bremen
Competing against LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, Lafferty claimed victories in the 200 and 500 yard freestyle for the Red Flash. In the 200 freestyle, the sophomore touched the wall in a time of 1:54.19, the new top time in the conference this season. Lafferty grabbed her second victory when she clocked in at 5:08.68 in the 500 free, finishing just over 14 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Her time ranks as the second-fastest in the NEC this fall. The two-time NEC Swimmer of the Week also helped SFU win the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:48.49.
NEC DIVER OF THE WEEK
No Nominations
NEC WOMEN’S SWIMMING ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Danielle Jefferies, LIU Brooklyn
Fr., Kihei, Hawaii
In LIU Brooklyn’s second conference meet of the season, Jefferies claimed a pair of victories in a 140-121 win over Saint Francis U. The freshman’s first victory came in the 100 fly, as she was timed in 57.27 to set a new pool record. Jefferies then established a personal-best in the 200 fly with a time of 2:07.18. The Hawaii native’s times were both the second-best in the NEC this season
After claiming two more wins over Howard and American, the Mount St. Mary’s women’s swimming team has improved to 4-0 for the first time in program history.
In the double dual meet this past Saturday, Mount St. Mary’s started off by going up against host Howard, winning comfortably by a 122-80 final margin. The Mount then turned around and clinched a 105-100 victory over American, earning the program’s first-ever win over the Eagles along with the first victory against a Patriot League opponent.
In the meet against American, the Mount trailed by six points with the final three events remaining. Top performances from Haley Fournier (Naples, FL/Palmetto Ridge) and Lauren Gulickson (Staten Island, NY/St. John Villa Academy) helped put the Mount in a position to win heading into the final event, the 200 freestyle relay. Fournier came up with a first place finished in the 500 free after turning in a time of 5:10.61. Gulickson followed that up with a second place finish in the 100 breastroke.
A second place finish (1:43.35) from the ‘A’ relay team in the 200 free along with a second place finish (1:48.81) from the ‘B’ relay squad helped secure the win.
Fournier also claimed a first place finish in the 1000 free (10:38.55), an event she holds the top time in in the NEC.
Amanda Moore (Katy, TX/Cinco Ranch) was another top performer for the Mountaineers as she posted victories in the 50 and 100 free with times of 24:82 and 53:21, respectively,
NEC Swimming & Diving Wrapup:
• LIU Brooklyn took on NEC rival Saint Francis U this past weekend and claimed its third straight victory of the season, winning 140-121. NEC Rookie of the Week, Danielle Jefferies (Kihei, HI) took home two individual victories in the 100 and 200 butterfly. Her time of 57.27 in the 100 fly set a new pool record and is the second best time in the league thi season. Freshman Nathalie Meyers (Dearborn, MI) won the 100 backstroke after setting a new pool record time of 56.65 along with a first place finish in the 200 backstroke. Milly Furneaux (Dover, England) remained undefeated in the 100 and 200 breaststroke with her personal-best times of 1:05.92 and 2:26.19, respectively. Oleksandra Kashyrina (Odessa, Ukraine) set new personal-best times in the 50 freestyle (24.33) and 100 freestyle (52.76). Her time in the 50 free is the top time among NEC competitors this season.
• Bryant competed against Iona and earned a 162-100 victory over the Gaels on Saturday. Sophomore Valeria Watson (Mexico City, Mexico/American School Foundation) led the way for the Bulldogs as she claimed victories in three individual events. Watson first won the 200 free (1:57.90) then finished first in the 200 back (2:12.18). Her third victory came in the 500 free as she touched in a time of 5:15.60. Nicole Salzano (Elmwood Park, NJ/Bergen County Technical) won the 1000 free and 100 backstroke. Julia Messina (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy) touched first in the 100 breaststroke while Jamie Schaefer (Durham, NC/CE Jordan) won the 200 fly. Kristie Chan (San Francisco, CA/Abraham Lincoln) and Samantha Torrez (Whittier, CA/La Salle) were also victorious for Bryant. Chan won the 50 free while Torrez won the 100 fly. The 200 medley relay squad of Salzano, Messina, Taylor Poliseno (Stevenson Ranch, CA/West Ranch) and Chan also claimed first place.
• Saint Francis U fell to LIU this past weekend in their dual mee. SFU is not 5-5 overall and 1-2 in NEC dual meets. NEC Swimmer of the Week Katie Lafferty (Bremen, IN/Bremen) led the Red Flash with two victories in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle. In the 200 free, the sophomore set the new top time in the NEC when she finished in 1:54.19. Her winning time of 5:08.68 in the 500 free is also a top time (second) in the conference. Lafferty is a two-time NEC Player of the Week. Classmate Emma Karell (Norrtalje, Sweden/Taby Swim Club) took home an individual win the 1000 freestyle when she clocked in at 10:51.87. Collecting top-two finishes for the Red Flash were junior Paige McLean (Bolton, Ontario/St. Michael Catholic Secondary) and senior Sara Dieterich (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetquot). McLean finished second in the 200 yard freestyle (2:01.66) and the 500 freestyle (5:23.51), while Dieterich finished second in the 100 and 200 backstroke with times of 1:01.13 and 2:12.71, respectively.
• Central Connecticut dropped a dual meet to visiting New Hampshire, 158-142, in the Blue Devils’ first home meet of the season. Maddy Garber (Milford, MA/Milford) claimed a pair of individual victories in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.03) and 200 breaststroke (2:20.38). Garber, Kaitlyn Troy (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central), Lisa Ward (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) and Christine Rasile (Branford, CT/Branford) combined to win the 200 medley relay to open up the meet. The Blue Devils swept the diving events when sophomore Annemarie Durham (East Lyme, CT/East Lyme) and Kaitlyn Beaver (Hamden, CT/Sacred Heart Academy) posted one-two finishes in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Durham posted a 216.07 while Beaver had 209.32 in the 1-meter for first and second respectively. Then in the 3-meter the roles were reversed as Beaver posted a score of 199.50 to top Durham’s score of 197.70. Sophomore Lauren Czulewicz (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) also grabbed a second place finish in the 200 free as she clocked in a time of 1:56.61.
Swimming news courtesy of Northeast Conference.