Championship Preview: Northeast Conference

Central Connecticut State won't have to go far to defend its 2009 NEC Championship - just down the road to Yale University.  Last year the Blue Devils captured a record 18 of the meet's 20 events for 649.5 points.  They were followed by Saint Francis (PA) with 457, Wagner (436.5), Sacred Heart (222), Mount St. Mary's (132) and St. Francis (NY) (126).  This year Bryant University joins the fray that begins tomorrow.  Here's a preview.

Psyche Sheet

Bryant (4-9)
Bryant enters its first-ever NEC Swimming and Diving Championships featuring junior Jess Looney (Goffstown, NH/Goffstown), who appears in the league’s top-16 times list in an array of events, highlighted by her second-place standing in the 200 back (2:08.10) and her fourth-best time in the 400 IM (4:45.71).  Looney is flanked by freshman Abby Whittaker (Salisbury, MA/St. Thomas Aquinas), who posted a pair of first-place finishes in the 200 butterfly and 1000 freestyle events en-route to setting program-bests in each during competition against Providence in November.

Central Connecticut State (5-5)
The defending champion Blue Devils hope to repeat with the help of a quartet of NEC Swimmer of the Week honorees, including Kristen Malski (Milford, CT/Laurlton Hall), Alex Czaplicki (North Haven, CT/North Haven), Megan McGorry (West Haven, CT/West Haven), and Erin Crowley (Plainville, CT/Plainville).  Malski possesses an NEC-best in the 200 breaststroke (2:27.88), while McGorry produced a top time in the 400 IM (4:35.45).  Czaplicki owns both the 100 back (59.14) and 200 back (2:06.13), as well as the 200 IM (2:06.50), while Crowley - a four-time NEC Swimmer of the Week this season - also racked up league-bests in three events, including the 100 free (52.80), the 500 free (4:56.53) and the 1000 free (10:24.22).  CCSU’s diving contingent is lead by four-time NEC Diver of the Week, Mallory Miller (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug Regional), as she holds the top score of 234.50 in the three-meter event.  Miller is flanked by three-time NEC Diver of the Week, Sam Smolicz (Berlin, CT/Berlin), who owns the league’s second-best score in the one-meter (223.50), and Madison Vestergaard (Middletown, CT/Middletown), who also picked up an NEC Diver of the Week nod and ranks fourth on the loop in the one-meter (191.45) and three-meter (190.90) events.        

Mount St. Mary’s (8-3)
Mount St. Mary’s senior diver, Katie Fives (Silver Spring, MD/Academy of Holy Cross) returns to the NEC Championships after earning NEC Diver of the Week accolades following her first career win with a top score of 152.80 in the one-meter board in November.  Sophomore Jeanne Marie Benedetti (Olney, MD/Our Lady of Good Counsel) enters the league event having recently bested the field in the 1500 free, setting a school and pool record by touching in at 19:37.99, while junior Maggie O’Connell (Hagerstown, MD), who finished eighth in the 100 fly (1:01.74) at last year’s championship, currently ranks among the top-10 in the league in the same event (seventh, 1:00.54).

Sacred Heart (4-4)
The Pioneers hope to capture their first NEC title behind the trio of Laurie Casado (Queens, NY/The Mary Louise Academy), Katie Marshall (Cumberland, RI/Saint Mary Academy-Bay View) and Meghan Bailey (Walpole, MA).  Casado, a freshman, owns a league-best in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:07.44, while Marshall claims the second spot on the loop in the 200 fly (2:09.66).  Casado also shattered two school records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke earlier in the year to qualify for the ECAC Championships, while Marshall qualified for the 100 and 200 fly events.  Joining the duo at the ECAC’s is Bailey, who will compete in the 200 fly and 400 IM, and Jackie Balder (Levittown, NY/MacArthur) as she swims the long-winded 1650 freestyle.

St. Francis (NY) (4-8)
St. Francis (NY) enters the tournament hoping to bounce back from a 136-85 loss to Fordham, despite first-place performances from Sonya Jaggernaught (Port of Spain, Trinidad/Notre Dame Convent) in the 100 free (54.65) and Dorota Lewandowski (Queens, NY/Grover Cleveland HS) in the 100 breaststroke (1:17.76).  Three-time NEC Diver of the Week, senior Christina DeBianchi (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph Hill Academy), placed third in the three-meter board event with a score of 220.95, which marks the second-best tally in the NEC.  Earlier in the year, DeBianchi recorded a league-best on the low board, totaling 230.65 points.  Jaggernaught, a senior, holds a league-best time of 24.31 in the 50 freestyle.      

Saint Francis (PA) (4-8)
As last year’s runner-up at the conference meet, Saint Francis (PA) enters the 2009 NEC Swimming and Diving Championship sporting a competitive squad that includes NEC Swimmer of the Week recipient, Jessica Dunn (Bristow, VA/Seton School) and second team all-NEC performer in 2008, Melissa Heintz (Boyertown, PA/Oley Valley).  Dunn holds the league’s second-best time in three different events, including the 400 IM (4:39.00), 100 backstroke (1:00.22) and the 200 backstroke (2:08.10), while Heintz returns after taking home silver in the 100 freestyle at last year’s championship by touching the wall at 54.17.  Joining Dunn and Heintz on a well-balanced Red Flash squad are junior Elise Merrill (Carlisle, PA/Big Spring), who owns the third-best time in the NEC in the 100 free (24.80), and classmate Kristen Low (Mississauga, Ontario/Cawthra Park S.S.), who rounds out the top-three on the circuit with a time of 4:44.95 in the 400 IM.

Wagner (6-3)
The Seahawks feature a pair of NEC Swimmer of the Week honorees in the form of senior Alexandra Tomlinson (Telford, PA/Souderton) and junior Jessica Hart (Summerfield, NC/Northwest).  Tomlinson holds the league’s top mark in the 1650 free (17:24.29), while Hart  bests the NEC in the 100 fly (57.12) and 200 fly (2:08.82).  Following suit is freshman Chelsea Beck (Reading, PA/Wilson), as she owns the 200 free (1:52.01).  Also returning for WC are junior Melanie Rodriguez-Lapman (Chesire, CT/Chesire), who captured the 200 breaststroke (2:29.17) a year ago, and sophomore Bethny Brown (Enfield, CT/Ennco Fermi), who took first in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.52) as a rookie.