2023 Northeast Conference Champs: 5 NEC Conference Records Fall on Night 3

2023 NORTHEAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

• Tuesday, February 21 – Saturday, February 25, 2023
• SPIRE Institute, Geneva, Ohio
• Live results on Meet Mobile: 2023 NEC Swimming and Diving Championship
• Defending Champions: Bryant 5x (Women), Bryant 2x (Men)
• Pre-scratch Psych Sheet
• Live Video
• Estimated Timeline
• Championship Central
• Live Results

DAY 1 RESULTS

DAY 2 RESULTS

DAY 3 RESULTS

Team Scores Men:

1. Howard — 451
2. Long Island — 380
3. St. Francis College — 313
4. Wagner — 295

Team Scores Women:

1. Central Connecticut State — 372
2. Wagner — 333
3. Howard — 280
4. Long Island — 211
5. Sacred Heart — 192
6. Saint Francis University — 187
7. St. Francis College — 134
8. Merrimack — 79
9. Stonehill — 58

The Wagner women made a big move to pass up Howard University for second on day three of Northeast Conference Championships. They now sit only 39 points behind leaders Central Connecticut State University. The Howard University men have created a strong lead for themselves even after Long Island’s impressive finals session on day two.

Day three finals began with the women’s 400-yard IM finals, with the Wagner women locking up their first individual win of the meet. Maile Mora won a tight race against Saint Francis University’s Nicole Lopez Kohlmann, touching in 4:26.76 to Kohlmann’s 4:26.84. Mora’s teammate Bree Anderson also picked up third-place points for Wagner, swimming a 4:27.52.

The records continued to fall on the men’s side with Daniel Chocano Fernandez of Long Island swimming a 3:57.17 to win the men’s 400-yard IM finals, more than four seconds faster than the NEC Conference record. The previous record was set in 2022 by Fernandez’s teammate Marcell Matyiko, who ended up placing fourth this year in 4:03.48. Howard’s Luke-Kennedy Thompson picked up his second individual silver of the meet losing a close final touch to Fernandez in 3:57.43. 

In the women’s 100-yard butterfly finals, Howard’s Courtney Connolly picked up an individual win over Long Island’s Ella Johnson, hitting the wall in 55.45 just ahead of Johnson’s 55.84. Central Connecticut State’s Megan Dunnigan touched third in 56.24.

In the same match-up that we saw in last night’s 50-yard freestyle final, Long Island’s Alejandro Pascual Del Cid and Howard’s Mark-Anthony Beckles went head-to-head in the men’s 100-yard butterfly. This time, Beckles came out with the win, topping Pascual Del Cid’s 48.65 with yet another NEC Conference record of 48.33. Beckles’ teammate Arion Solomon was close behind in third, touching in 48.94. 

Yesterday’s 500-yard freestyle champion Katie Czulewicz swam her way to another individual win in the 200-yard freestyle final, just ahead of Wagner sprinter Olivia Bishop. The top three swimmers were under 1:50, with Czulewicz touching in 1:48.81, Bishop in 1:48.96, and Howard’s Zuzu Nwaeze hitting the wall third in 1:49.39.

St. Francis College’s Toni Dragoja won the men’s 200-yard freestyle in 1:36.77, just 0.05 slower than his 800-yard freestyle relay lead-off split. Dragoja was two seconds ahead of the rest of the field with Long Island’s Emilio Garcia touching second in 1:38.95, and Wagner’s Kaan Nalcaci picking up third ahead of yesterday’s 500-yard freestyle champion Valentin Schnermann in 1:39.20.

The Howard women picked up their first relay win of the meet, setting a new NEC conference record in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:32.63. Anchor Zuzu Nwaeze swam the fastest split of the field in 22.79. Long Island hit the wall second in 1:34.19 just ahead of Wagner’s 1:34.39.

The Howard men joined their women’s team in 200-yard freestyle relay victory and broke the final NEC record of the night by 0.06 in 1:20.14. Howard’s lead-off Miles Simon also swam a best time, officially setting a new NEC conference record of 19.42. 

Simon’s split broke Alejandro Pascual Del Cid’s NEC record of 20.09 set just last night in the 50-yard free final by more than half a second. There were two other splits under the 20-second mark in the field: Saint Francis’ Maurice Grabowski split 19.91, and Toni Dragoja anchored the same relay in 19.80, earning them second place.

The Howard men cemented their lead even further with Jordan Walker winning the men’s 1-meter diving event, and Cyrus Gibson and Joel Wilkinson picking up 6th and 7th place.