Wagner Regains the Lead on Day 3 of Northeast Champs

2016 WOMEN’S NORTHEAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 24- Saturday, February 27, 2016
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (Eastern Time Zone)
• Wednesday Timed Finals 8PM, Prelims 10AM / Finals 6PM (Thurs-Sat)
• Defending Champion: Central Connecticut (2015 results and recap here.)
• Live Results
• Championship Central
• NEC Teams: Bryant, Central Connecticut, Long Island University- Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner College

400 IM

1. Amanda Lucia 4:22.92
2. Aidan Devers 4:25.18
3. Lauren Doerrman 4:27.64

Lucia of Wagner defended her 400 IM conference title, winning the event in over 2 seconds ahead of the field. Although she swam at faster time at the 2015 championships (4:21.62), she still dominated this year. Divers, who didn’t swim this event last year, took another 2nd place finish of the meet, after earning silver in the 500 free last night.

This year, Doerrman of Bryant finished 3rd, falling just shy of her 2nd place finish last year and also shy of her time 4:24.40. Last year’s 3rd place finisher Stephanie Czulewicz of CCSU finished 4th this year, in a time of 4:29.62.

100 Fly

1. Oleksandra Kashyrina 55.31
2. Amanda Lucia 55.55
3. Danielle Jefferies 55.68

Long Island University’s freshman Kashyrina took her first collegiate conference title, out touching last year’s 400 IM and 100 fly double champion Lucia. Coming off of winning the first event of the night and heading right into a tough double, this year, Lucia (29.51) was out ahead of Kashyrina at the 50 (30.15), but fell short at the finish to take 2nd place. Blackbird teammate Jefferies also helped the freshman class make an impression, when she earned 3rd place points for the team.

200 Free

1. Christine Rasile 1:48.76
2. Katie Lafferty 1:50.24
3. Lauren Czulewicz 1:50.52

After winning the 50 free in record time last night, Rasile won her 2nd individual event of the meet, setting a new school record in the 200 free. She was the only swimmer of the night to break 1 minute 50 seconds, just missing the meet record by 0.48 seconds. 500 free campion Lafferty, took 2nd in this event for another year, but improving on last year’s time of 1:51.60. Czulewicz, who placed 5th last year, took almost 3 seconds off of her 2015 championship time for a 3rd place finish.

100 Breast

1. Milly Furneaux 1:01.56
2. Maddy Garber 1:01.81
3. Katja Claesson 1:02.85

The Blackbirds took another victory of the night, when freshman Furneaux finished in NCAA ‘B-cut’ time but falling short of the conference record by a hundredth of a second. Garber, who was last year’s champion and the conference record holder, fell shy of her best time, but also finished in NCAA ‘B-cut’ time. Claesson, who finished 4th at the 2015 championships, dropped almost a second off of her time from that meet, to put her on the podium for 3rd.

100 Back

1. Anu Nihipali 53.84
2. Natalie Meyers 56.72
3. Kaitlyn Troy 56.84

Wagner’s Nihipali won her 2nd event of the meet, after an impressive 200 IM swim on day 2. She dominated the 100 back, finishing almost 3 seconds ahead of the field, but just off of her best time and meet record time of 53.54. Behind her was Blackbirds freshman Meyers, and CCSU freshman Troy.

1m Diving

1. Kelci Abernethy 255.30
2. Kaitlyn Beaver 226.25
3. Annemarie Durham 223.50

Abernathy of Bryant University, finished first on the 1m board, breaking the previous 4-year old conference record of 250.10.

400 Medley Relay

1. CCSU 3:43.18
2. Wagner 3:44.34
3. Blackbirds 3:46.62

CCSU’s team of Troy, Garber, Sabree Thomas and Rasile garnered more victory points, winning another relay of the meet in a new conference record, breaking the old record time of 3:43.18.

Team Scores After Day 3

1. Wagner – 510
2. CCSU – 505
3. Bryant – 347
4. Saint Francis University – 310
5. LIU Blackbirds – 296
6. Sacred Heart – 133
7. Mount Saint Mary’s – 105
8. St. Francis College – 90