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The men’s and women’s from MIT defended their titles in stunning fashion after the conclusion of the New England Men’s and Women’s Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at MIT’s Zesiger Sports & Fitness Center in Cambridge, MA.
The first event of the evening (women’s 1650 freestyle) saw Mount Holyoke freshman Cathleen Pruden grab her second individual event of the weekend with an NCAA B cut swim of 17.30.29. Springfield freshman Ashleigh Monroe was second in 17:41.55 and Coast Guard freshman Haley McWilliams was third 17:43.90.
The men’s 1650 freestyle saw the freshman from MIT, Michael Lu with the win in 16:14.40. Babson freshman An Truong was second in 16:16.62. Both swims met the NCAA B cut qualifying standard. Coast Guard senior Nicholas Poehler finished third in 16:19.32.
The 200 backstroke saw the teams from MIT claim the top three spots for both the men and the women team. Reigning NEWMAC record holder Christy Rogers (JR) won the event with an NCAA B qualifying swim in 2:04.70. Sophomore Jane He was second in 2:06.70 and freshman Kate Yu was third in 2:07.34.
The men’s event was blazing fast as senior Brendan Deveney (winner of the 200 IM and 200 freestyle) narrowly touched out teammate, freshman Alexander Lednev (winner of the 400 IM), as both got to the wall with NCAA A cut qualifying swims (1:48.88/1:49.01). Brad Jokubaitis (FR) was third in 1:49.59, an NCAA B qualifying time.
Springfield junior Kellie Pennington snagged her second event title of the weekend with a win in the women’s 100 freestyle, 51.31. MIT freshman Lena Yang was second in 51.90 and Elina Hu (SR) also from MIT, third in 52.17. All three swims met the NCAA B qualifying provision.
MIT senior Wyatt Ubellacker took down the old NEWMAC meet record in the men’s 100 freestyle with an NCAA A qualifying swim and his third individual win of the Championship with a blazing fast 44.56. Coast Guard sophomore Christian Brindamour was second in 45.74/45.55p. MIT senior Tony Chen was third in 45.88. Both of the latter swims met the NCAA B qualifying standard.
The women’s 200 breaststroke saw MIT freshman Kristen Finney claim her second title of the weekend with an NCAA B qualifying swim in 2:22.80. WPI sophomore Nysa Casha narrowly touched out MIT’s Sydney Hodges for second place in 2:25.34/2:25.60.
Another NEWMAC record fell in the men’s 200 breaststroke as Springfield freshman Michael Normoyle swam to a very impressive win in 2:02.20. MIT sophomore Ben Bauchwitz was second in 2:04.27/2:02.62p. Reigning NEWMAC record holder Michael Liao (MIT) was third in 2:06.96.
MIT’s Anna Kokensparger (SR) hasn’t lost the 200 butterfly in 4 years and last night claimed the event by 3-seconds in with a stunning 2:05.28. It was her third individual win in as many events over the weekend. Coast Guard junior Chantel Ferguson was second in 2:08.19 and MIT freshman Sarah Osmulski third in 2:11.34/2:1070p.
The men’s 200 butterfly’s top three spots were claimed by MIT as Remy Mock (JR), Luke Schlueter (FR) and Timothy Wall (JR) went 1-2-3 (1:52.54/1:53.04/1:53.72). All three swims met the NCAA B qualifying provisional standard.
Once again Springfield owned both diving boards as junior Jennifer Thompson and senior Kenny Pancoast claimed their second wins in so many events on the women’s 1-meter board (487.20) and the men’s 3-meter diving board (543.85). Both scores met the NCAA A automatic qualifying standard.
The women at MIT sealed the deal with a monster swim in both the men’s and women’s 400 freestyle relay. The women’s team of Lena Yang (FR), Elina Hu (SR), Katelyn Rossick (JR) and Anna Kokensparger (SR) eclipsed the old mark of 3:27.80 set by Springfield College in 2012 with a stunning 3:27.63; just missing the NCAA A qualifying provisional standard. Springfield College was second in 3:30.14 and Wheaton College (MA) was third in 3:35.97.
The men’s team of Brendan Deveney (SR), Austin Fathman (SO), Craig Cheney (JR) and Wyatt Ubellacker (SR) won the event in 3:01.20; an NCAA B qualifying provisional time. Coast Guard was second in 3:09.03 and WPI third in 3:09.20.
The final team scores after three days of competition are as follows:
Women Men
- MIT 1021 1. MIT 1178
- Springfield 740 2. Springfield 658.50
- Wellesley 457 3. Coast Guard 542
- Coast Guard 358 4. WPI 477
- Mount Holyoke 286 5. Babson 397.50
- Wheaton (MA) 263 6. Wheaton (MA) 294
- Clark 213 7. Clark 181
- WPI 212
- Smith 180
- Babson 145
#swimfast
