New Hampshire
Sophomore Jessica Harper (Easthampton, Mass.) highlighted the University of New Hampshire women's swimming & diving team's effort with a 10th-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle at the 2015 Frank Elm Invitational on Friday. The three-day event is being held at the Sonny Werblin Recreational Center.
Harper, who touched the wall in 4 minutes, 59.75 seconds in the preliminaries to advance to the B Final with the 10th-fastest time, took 10th place overall in the 500 free with a time of 4:59.69 in the final.
Harper also swam the anchor leg of UNH's 200 freestyle that swam to an 11th-place finish. Sarah Broderick (Haverhill, Mass.) swam an opening leg of 24.54 seconds, followed by Liza Baykova (Moscow, Russia) with a top 'Cat split of 23.64, Maddie Murphy (Liverpool, N.Y.) in 24.99 and Harper at 24.61 for an aggregate time of 1:37.28.
Baykova also turned in a strong individual performance in the 50 free. She advanced to the B Final with the 13th fastest time (23.83 seconds) in the preliminaries and improved that mark in the finals with a 23.74 clocking in the finals to earn 12th place.
UNH's 400 medley relay quartet, consisting of Linnia Lemerise (Brentwood, N.H.), Sarah Olver (Durham, N.H.), Vivienne El-Sibay(Munich, Germany) and Kaitlin Cahill (Troy, N.Y.), recorded a combined time of 4:00.79 for 20th place.
Out of four Wildcats and 65 competitors overall in the 200 individual medley, Bettina Caspersen (Lyngby, Denmark) advanced to the finals. Swimming in the C Final, Caspersen touched the wall in 2:08.62 - an improvement of her preliminary time of 2:09.32 - for 22nd place. Caspersen also swam in the 50 free preliminaries but did not advance with her time of 25.38.
In the 500 free, Brittany Mofatt (Cedar Falls, Iowa) and Brittany Driscoll (Wallingford, Conn.) placed in the top 32 of the 62-swimmer field to advance to the finals. Out of the D Final, Mofatt raced through the water for a time of 5:09.28 and 29th place, followed by Driscoll in 31st place at 5:11.80.
Broderick also competed in the 50 free, where she advanced to the finals and placed 32nd with a time of 24.51 seconds.
Olver, Lemerise and El-Sibay also swam in the 200 IM but did not advance to the final. Olver was clocked in 2:12.09 for 37th place - the top 32 advanced to the finals - followed by Lemerise (2:13.41) and El-Sibay (2:13.52).
Two other relay competitors also competed in the 50 free preliminaries. Murphy touched the wall in 24.81 (44th place) and Cahill touched the wall in 25.51 (53rd).
Liberty
The Liberty swimming & diving team sits in fourth place following day one of the Rutgers Invitational, Friday at RU Aquatics Center.
The Lady Flames scored 257.5 points on day one, edging James Madison (257) by 0.5 points for fourth position. Navy leads the meet with 635.5 points, followed in the top three by host Rutgers with 415 and Northeastern with 331.
The meet features a similar event program as the 2016 CCSA Swimming and Diving Championships. However, unlike the conference championships, the Rutgers Invitational allows for unlimited entries, leading to multiple relays and extra individuals scoring per school.
Prudence Rooker earned an A Final appearance in the 200 IM, swimming a season-best 2:05.34 in preliminary heats. She then took seventh with a time of 2:06.04 in evening finals. Victoria Tschoke swam 2:08.03 in the C Final, good for 20th place overall, while Morgan Noonan’s 2:09.16 placed 26th. Anna Dickinson (42nd place – 2:12.99), Ranndi Grubbs (48th – 2:13.51), Ashley Mauzy (56th – 2:15.06) and Morgan Weigner (64th – 2:19.79) also competed in the 200 individual medley.
Kendall Hough clocked a season-best 23.55 in 50 free qualifying heat, before placing fourth in the A Final with a 23.75 clocking. Rachel Hoeve’s season-best 23.80 earned her a B Final swim, as she placed 15th overall in finals with a time of 24.02. Chelsea Pond (35th – 24.49), Danielle Boothe (39th – 24.62), Ricki Lee Hodges (41st – 24.70), Shelby Black (52nd – 25.47) and Siani Null (58th – 25.97) all completed 50 free swims in morning prelims.
Kristin VanDeventer qualified for the 500 free B final with a season-best 5:01.14, before swimming 5:04.37 for 16th place overall at night. Alicia Finnigan swam a season-best 5:07.33 in morning qualifying, before placing 27th overall in finals after lowering her time to 5:03.17. Ashlee Sall finished 34th in 5:10.86, while Natalie Beale swam 5:11.70 for 39th place. Hannah Wakeley took 41st position in 5:12.15, while Dani Jordan (5:13.85) claimed 45th and Elizabeth Magnusson (5:21.99) finished 56th.
Liberty’s 200 free relay of Rooker, Hough, Hoeve and Pond clocked 1:34.66, good for a fifth-place showing.
Brooke Fox and Madi Long placed 12th and 13th, respectively, in three-meter springboard diving. Fox scored 203.85 points in finals after totaling 194.25 in qualifying. Long’s finals score of 190.50 was good for 13th.
The Lady Flames took ninth in the 400 medley relay, as Tschoke, Rooker, Finnigan and Hough recorded a time of 3:51.72.
Northeastern
In just the first day out at the Frank Elm Invitational, hosted by Rutgers at the RU Aquatics Center, the Northeastern women's swimming and diving team tabbed team season best performances in five of the six events.
"It was a solid first day against top competition," said head coach Roy Coates. "We plan to build on today's performances and have an even better day tomorrow."
Sophomore Sara Touchette-McGowan notched four top performances for the Huskies, including the 50-freestyle with 23:55 for third overall (A-cut) and the 400 medley relay with Christine Leong, Amanda Liew and Carly Schnabel. The pack tagged the wall in 3:48.89 overall to earn a fifth place finish (A-cut).
In the 3-meter dive, Jacquelyn Gover (262.05), Caroline Gonsalves (219.70), and Alyssa Seales (219.55) earned fourth, fifth, and sixth place, respectively.
200 freestyle relay
• Carly Schnabel, Delaney Lanker, Rachel Green and Sara Touchette-McGowan finished in 10th place with 1:35.80.
• Madeline Wolf, Kerry Treusdell, Christine Leong and Amanda Liew followed in 15th place with 1:38.86.
500 yard freestyle
• Jordan Domeier finished in 13th place overall/second place in the B-cut with 5:01.66.
• Kerry Treusdell picked up 14th place overall/ third place in the B-cut with 5:01.86.
200 IM
• Sara Touchette-McGowan earned 12th overall and fourth in the B-cut with 2:06.09.
