NEC Championship Day One Coverage

Central Connecticut State Leads After Day One
Central Connecticut State sits in first place with 192 points after the first day of the 2009 NEC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at Yale University. Wagner finished day one in second with 161 points, followed by Saint Francis (PA) in third (102) and Sacred Heart in fourth (57). St. Francis (NY) landed in the fifth spot (53), while Bryant and Mount St. Mary’s rounded out the field of seven with 50 and 47 points, respectively.

CCSU’s freshman diving duo of Mallory Miller (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) and Sam Smolicz (Berlin, CT/Berlin) earned the Blue Devils’ first 1-2 finish of the day in the one-meter dive with scores of 219.05 and 192.90, respectively. St. Francis (NY)’s Christina DeBianchi (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph Hill Academy), a four-time NEC Diver of the Week honoree, finished third with a mark of 182.60.

Wagner’s 200 free relay squad comprised of Jessica Hart (Summerfield, NC/Northwest), Chelsea Beck (Reading, PA/Wilson), Lindsey Rodgers (Anaheim Hills, CA/Canyon) and Lauren French (Colmar, PA/North Penn) captured the gold medal in the first swimming event of the evening with a time of 1:35.98. Saint Francis (PA) took second as Elise Merrill (Carlisle, PA/Big Spring), Melissa Heintz (Boyertown, PA/Oley Valley), Meg Seale (Winchester, VA/Seton School) and Angela Marino (Hollidaysburg, PA/Hollidaysburg Area) touched the wall at 1:39.30. The Central Connecticut State quartet of Alyssa Carlucci (Danbury, CT/Danbury), Kristen Malski (Stratford, CT/Laurlton Hall), Deirdre Burke (Beacon Falls, CT/Woodland Regional) and Sarah Mahan (Litchfield, CT/Litchfield) claimed third place with a time of 1:40.80.

The Blue Devil’s Megan McGorry (West Haven, CT/West Haven) and Kandra Kane (Coram, NY/Newfield) earned the squad’s second 1-2 sweep of the day in the 500 yard freestyle with times of 4:53.78 and 4:56.52, respectively. Finishing in third place was the Seahawks’ Alexandra Tomlinson (Telford, PA/Souderton), clocking in at 4:58.91. The 200 IM saw another CCSU 1-2 finish as Alex Czaplicki (North Haven, CT/North Haven) earned first (2:03.68) and Carlucci took second (2:09.39). Rounding out the top-three was Wagner’s Jakki Guenther (South Hadley, MA/South Hadley) with a time of 2:11.17.

The Blue Devils’ Erin Crowley (Plainville, CT/Plainville) notched CCSU’s fourth win, placing first in the 50 free with a time of 23.87. The Seahawk duo of Hart and French finished in second (24.19) and third (24.33) place, respectively. CCSU, who owns the Northeast Conference record in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:49.99, continued its success on day one by taking home the gold medal in the event. The Blue Devils’ Carlucci, Malski, Burke and Mahan combined for a time of 3:51.30, marking a new pool record. The aforementioned Blue Devils 400 medley relay squad eclipsed the old mark of 3:55.24, while Wagner’s Guenther, Bethny Brown (Enfield, CT/Ennco Fermi), Hart and French came in second in 3:51.70, also beating the old pool record. Saint Francis (PA)’s Jessica Dunn (Bristow, VA/Seton School), Elyse Peterman (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain), Abi May (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler Area) and Heintz placed third with a time of 4:01.84. The 2009 NEC Swimming and Diving Championships will resume tomorrow, February 13, at 10:00 am.

Fives Finishes Sixth In Diving To Lead Women's Swimming On First Day Of NEC Swimming & Diving Championships
Katie Fives (Silver Spring, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) finished sixth in the 1-meter dive to lead the Mount St. Mary’s women’s swimming team to a seventh-place standing on the first day at the Northeast Conference (NEC) Swimming & Diving Championships on Thursday.
 
Fives finished sixth in the 1-meter dive with a score of 107.70 to earn the first points for the Mount in the championships. Fives, who is the first-ever Mountaineer diver in program history, posted the program’s top finish in the three-year team history. Maggie O’Connell (Hagerstown, Md.) had the top mark with a seventh-place finish in the 100 fly in 2007.
 
O’Connell, Paige Chenet (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga), Courtney Gaddi (Silver Spring, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) and Kelsey Albright (Endicott, N.Y./Maine-Endicott) finished fifth in the 200-free relay (1:42.80) to earn the team 20 points and the foursome teamed up again to place sixth in the 400-medley relay (4:11.89) to nab 18 points.
 
Albright, Gaddi and Chenet also finished in the Top-18 in the 50 free, finishing 13th (25.67), 17th (26.03) and 18th (26.07), respectively.

Central Connecticut State leads the three-day competition with a score of 192 while Wagner (161), Saint Francis (Pa.) (102), Sacred Heart (57), St. Francis (N.Y.) (53), Bryant (50) and Mount St. Mary’s (47) round out the seven-team field.
 
The Mount returns to the pool on Friday in the second day of the NEC Swimming & Diving Championships. Prelimaries start at 10 a.m.