Howard Men Capture First Ever NEC Conference Title, CCSU Women Win Their 7th NEC Title

2023 NORTHEAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• 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

DAY 4 RESULTS

DAY 5 RESULTS

Team Scores Men:

1. Howard — 928
2. Long Island — 759
3. St. Francis College — 634
4. Wagner — 539

Team Scores Women:

1. Central Connecticut State — 659.5
2. Wagner — 601.5
3. Long Island — 520.5
4. Howard — 498
5. Saint Francis University — 392.5
6. Sacred Heart — 377
7. St. Francis College — 285
8. Merrimack — 139
9. Stonehill — 120

The Howard University men have officially captured their first-ever Northeast Conference Championship title by a margin of 169 points over Long Island University. The Bison men finished out the meet winning several more individual titles and the final relay to finish just shy of the 1,000-point barrier.

The Central Connecticut State women won their 7th Northeast Conference Championship title in team history, finishing with a score of 659.5 points. There was some reshuffling below them on the final night with Long Island passing up Howard for third place, and Saint Francis University passing Sacred Heart to claim fifth. 

The CCSU women swam to 1st and 2nd place in the 1650-yard freestyle final, with Abbey Keane taking the win in 17.00.19 over Taylor Demarest who touched in 17:11.49. Saint Francis College’s Mariajose Lopez took third in 17:17.28.

Wagner’s Roben Van Gool won the men’s 1650, eight seconds faster than the 500-yard freestyle runner-up, Luke-Kennedy Thompson who finished in 16:03.56. Long Island’s Lincoln Greseth gave Thompson a run for his money, only falling behind in the final 100 yards with Thompson splitting a 55.40 to Greseth’s 58.72. Greseth ended up touching only a half-second behind Thompson in 16:04.09. 

Wagner’s Olivia Bishop picked up her first individual win of the meet in her final event, the 100-yard freestyle, swimming a 50.78. Yesterday’s 100-yard breaststroke champion Venna Andersen of Long Island was second in 51.09, and 500/200-yard freestyle champ Katie Czulewicz of CCSU was third in 51.17.

Mark-Anthony Beckles from Howard defended his title in the 100-yard freestyle and lowered his own NEC Conference record that he set last year to 44.33. 50-yard freestyle champ Alejandro Pascual Del Cid was close behind in 44.54, and Saint Francis College’s Daniel Matheus Santos was third in 44.89.

In the women’s 200-yard backstroke final, Maaike Broersma of Long Island rounded out her backstroke dominance by touching almost five seconds ahead of the field in 1:56.85. She also set a new NEC Conference record by almost a full second. Wagner’s Aura Vilarrasa was second in 2:01.11 and Broersma’s teammate Rea Shehu was third in 2:02.31.

Howard’s Miles Simon went 3-for-3 in his individual events, finishing out his schedule by winning the 200-yard backstroke in 1:46.35. Wagner’s Kaan Nalcaci, who was runner-up to Simon in yesterday’s 100-yard back final, picked up another silver in 1:47.15. Saint Francis College’s Robert Wagner was third in 1:49.18.

The women’s 200-yard IM champion from day two, Howard’s Michaela Spears, took home her second individual win of the meet, swimming a 2:17.76 in the 200-yard breaststroke. Saint Francis College’s Elayna Pistrin was second in 2:18.91, and Spears’ teammate Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson was third to the wall in 2:19.98 marking her third bronze of the meet.

Seven out of the eight swimmers in the men’s 200-yard breast final were either from Howard or Long Island, with Long Island’s Stephen Taylor winning the event in 1:59.82. Howard’s Niles Rankin touched second in 2:02.91, and Taylor’s teammate Giannis Venetos was third in 2:03.30.

The Wagner women won the final relay of the meet, swimming a 3:23.84 in the 400-yard free relay, just shy of the NEC Conference record. Olivia Bishop anchored the relay in 49.59, being the only swimmer to split under 50 seconds. Long Island was second in 3:25.34, and Howard was third in 3:26.05.

Both the Howard and Saint Francis College men swam under the 400-yard free relay NEC Conference record, but Howard came out on top, winning in 2:57.66 over Saint Francis’ 2:59.13. On Howard’s relay, Miles Simon led off in a new NEC Conference record of 43.47, beating Mark-Anthony Beckles’ record set earlier in the session. Beckles also swam under 44 seconds, anchoring in 43.90. 

Jordan Walker of Howard University completed a sweep of the diving events, winning the men’s 3-meter ahead of Saint Francis College’s Matthew Bernstein and Wagner’s Carter Green.