Freshman Jessica Harper (Easthampton, Mass.) set a new program record to propel the University of New Hampshire women's swimming & diving team to first place after the second day of the America East Championships at WPI Sports & Recreation Center on Friday.
The Wildcats have 288 points, ahead of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in second with 240. The University of Vermont ranks third with 234 points followed by Binghamton University (207) and the University of Maine (140).
Harper ripped through the water in the 500-yard freestyle, slamming the panel at 4 minutes, 50.25 seconds. The rookie's record trumps Lauren McCandless' 4:51.20 mark set at the 2013 ECAC Championships.
New Hampshire swept the podium in the 500-yard freestyle to chalk up 53 combined points. Behind Harper's herculean effort, senior Oneida Cooper (Johannesburg, South Africa) engineered a second place finish with a time of 4:53.49. Freshman Bridget Miller (Longmeadow, Mass.) rounded out the medal winners in the event with a personal best and bronze finish of 4:58.12. Sophomore Lauren Marsden (Washington, D.C.) bolstered the scoring in the event, placing 13th with a time of 5:11.13 for four points.
Senior Katie Mann (Prince George, British Columbia) and junior Bettina Caspersen (Lyngby, Denmark) captured second and third respectively in the 200-yard IM to gather 33 points for the Wildcats. Mann reached for the wall at 1:59.48 while Caspersen clocked in at 2:04.12. Sophomore Emily Giambastini (Walnut Creek, Calif.) added six points to the UNH scoring tally with a new career-best and sixth place time of 2:07.09 in the event.
In the 50-yard freestyle, senior Megan Suffel (Cornwall, Ontario) was edged out in the scoring column, placing 17th in the event with a time of 24.34. Freshman Kaitlin Cahill (Troy, N.Y.) also competed in the event, finishing 24th with a mark of 24.94.
UNH punctuated the day with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The quartet of freshman Liza Baykova (Moscow, Russia), sophomore Sarah Broderick (Haverhill, Mass.), Caspersen and Cooper combined for a time of 1:33.91
Day three of the America East Championships starts at 10 a.m. tomorrow with the 400-yard IM preliminaries. Other events include the 100-yard IM, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, three-meter diving and the 400-yard medley relay. The finals for the day will commence at 6 p.m.
Sophomore Emily Escobedo (New Rochelle, N.Y./Maria Regina) not only took gold in the 200 IM to lead UMBC, she broke a school record in the process.
Escobedo won the 200 IM with a time of 1:59.10, out-touching Katie Mann of New Hampshire. The time set a new meet, conference, and school record for Escobedo, who defended her 200 IM crown, which she won at last year's championships.
"Emily has worked hard for this moment," head coach Chad Cradock said about the sophomore. "Her success is not an accident. Her records and big win today shows she is ready for the rest of the weekend."
Stephanie Romano (Arlington, Va./Yorktown/Towson) led the Retrievers in the 500 free, touching the wall with a time of 4:58.82. Teammate Carly Waters(Crownsville, Md./Archbishop Spalding) earned an eighth place finish with a time of 5:03.28. Brenda Rhodes (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) won the consolation final, swimming her career best time of 5:02.49.
In the 50 free, Catherine Frediani (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) took eighth place with a time of 24.08. Kristie Langford (Port Hope, Ontario/CDCI West) won the consolation final in a time of 23.86. The other event contested on the day, the 200 free relay, saw the team of Frediani, Allie Caulfield (Ellicott City, Md./Mount de Sales), Allison Atkinson (Arnold, Md./Archbishop Spalding), and Langford place third with a time of 1:34.67.
"Today was a great day. Our ladies are coming together as a team and are focused. We as a staff could not be more proud of what they are accomplishing," Cradock stated.
UMBC jumped into second place after day two. The Retrievers (240 points) trail UNH by just 48 points with two days to go. Vermont (234), Binghamton (207) and Maine (140) round out the five team field.
Vermont swimming and diving set a new program record in the 200 free relay to close out the second night of competition on Friday at the America East Championships at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. UVM moved into third place, while New Hampshire and UMBC own the top two spots.
Andie Blaser, Sarah Mantz, Kira Hancock and Christa Weaver made up the Catamounts' squad that set the new UVM varsity 200 free relay record. The team swam to a second-place finish with a time of 1:34.08, breaking the old mark of 1:34.63, which was set earlier this season at the Bucknell Invitational.
Vermont finished 5-6-7 in the 50 free, led by Weaver, who touched the wall in 23.69. Mantz and Blaser earned the next two spots in the race with times of 23.91 and 23.95, respectively. Hancock (24.08), Courtney Gray (24.13) and Katie Adams (24.31) also scored points for UVM.
In the 500 free, senior Ilsa Feierabend registered a fifth-place showing with a time of 5:01.14, and Kelly Lennon finished just behind her in sixth place in a time of 5:01.73. Ali McClure also scored points for the Catamounts in the event as she clocked in at 5:13.85.
Lauren Punger earned Vermont's top finish in the 200 IM as the sophomore clocked in at 2:07.27 to take eighth place in the event. Freshman Shannon Cowley took the next spot, claiming ninth place with a time of 2:07.94. Adams (2:10.96), Estee Dilli (2:11.39) and rookie Jess Gorham (2:11.79) rounded out the scoring for the Catamounts in the event.
