Swimming & Diving

GNAC Swimming & Diving Championship: Day One Recap

GNAC Swimming & Diving Championship: Day One Recap
Posted: Dec 05, 2015

BOSTON, Mass. – The first day of the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Swimming & Diving Championship is complete and the Saint Joseph's College women and men are in second and fourth place, respectively, through 20 events.

The St. Joe's men, who have finished fourth in the GNAC event in each of the last four seasons, sit in fourth with 29 team points. Norwich, which has won the GNAC Invitational title in each of the last four years, leads the way with 146 points while Regis (121) and Elms (68) are currently ahead of the Monks and Husson (25) stands in fifth through 20 events.

The Saint Joseph's women's team, which placed third with 105 points in last year's conference championship, enters the second day as the runner-up with 226 points, slightly ahead of Regis College, which sits in third with 208 points. Host Simmons College, winners of the last seven GNAC titles, is well ahead of the pack with 571 points while University of Saint Joseph (190), Husson University (172), Elms College (161) and Norwich University (130) round out the women's field.

Action resumes, and concludes, tomorrow at the Holmes Sports Center Natatorium with the preliminary events starting at 9:30 AM and the finals kicking off at 4:00 PM.

THE RUNDOWN – MEN:

  • Junior Ben Johnson (Belmont, Mass.) finished as the runner-up with a new team record time in the 200-IM (2:10.31) and placed fifth in the 50-Fly (25.61)
  • Senior Alexander Gilvey (Windham, Maine) placed fourth in the 200-Back (2:13.68) and fifth in the 200-IM (2:14.97) 4
  • Senior Andrew Merlino (Natick, Mass.) was fourth in the 50-Fly (25.42) - nearly breaking the program's record set earlier in the day by Johnson (25:30) - and finished fifth in the 500-Free (5:33.74)
  • Individually, Johnson accounted for 11 points while Gilvey and Merlino posted nine points apiece on the event's first day.

THE RUNDOWN – WOMEN:

  • Senior Brooke Huberdeau (North Andover, Mass.) was fourth in the 500-Free (5:48.77), ninth in the 200-Free (2:16.40) and 10th in the 50-Free (28.92)
  • Senior Annie Fougere (Warner, N.H.) finished seventh in the 100-Breast (1:17.04) and 13th in the 50-Free (29.81)
  • Senior Allie Krasco (Melrose, Mass.) placed sixth in the 200-Back (2:33.20) and seventh in the 50-Fly (33.31)
  • Freshman Julia Rowlett (Saco, Maine) was fifth in the 200-Back (2:32.94) and sixth in the 100-Fly (1:13.66)
  • Junior Lauren Halvorsen (South Portland, Maine) placed seventh in the 500-Free (6:01.48) and 11th in the 200-Free (2:21.31)
  • Junior Lauren Prue (Glenburn, Maine) finished seventh in the 100-Fly (1:13.97) and eighth in the 200-IM (2:39.39) and 100-Breast (1:20.94)
  • Sophomore Leia Berube (Brewer, Maine) was 11th in the 200-IM (2:48.70)
  • The quartet of Berube, Brittany Dalphonse (Coventry, R.I.), Rowlett and Huberdeau swam together to post a fifth-place effort in the 400-Medley relay (5:08.30), a performance that earned 28 points for the Monks
  • Overall, Prue notched 34 points, Huberdeau tallied 31 points, Rowlett chipped in with 27, Krasco totaled 25 points and Halvorsen contributed 18 individual points. Berube and Fougere added 17 and 16 points, respectively.

 

GNAC RELEASE (Courtesy of Simmons College Sports Information):

SIMMONS WOMEN LEAD GNAC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER DAY ONE, NORWICH MEN LEAD GNAC INVITATIONAL

BOSTON, Mass. – The Simmons College women's swimming & diving team tallied 591 points, buoyed by nine first place finishes in 11 events, to lead the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship following the first day of competition at the Holmes Sports Center on the campus of Simmons in Boston, Mass. The Norwich University men scored 173 points to take the lead on day one of the GNAC Invitational this afternoon as well. 
 
Five women's GNAC Championship records fell during the day, while four GNAC standards on the men's side were eclipsed.
 
Simmons junior Hannah Plourde (Westfield, Mass.) led all scorers in the women's meet with 42 points, while sophomore teammate Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) earned a pair of first place finishes on GNAC record-breaking efforts. First year Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) also hit the wall first in a pair of events for the Sharks. 
 
Morris dominated the butterfly events for Simmons, posting a time of 1:01.85 to shave .27 seconds off the former 100-yard mark set by Regis College's Svetlana Loranger in 2012. Morris broke her own record in the 50-yard event with a time of 27.38 to better her previous time from last year by .33. Simpson shattered the conference record in the 500-yard freestyle by over 10 seconds and also topped her school and pool record with a time of 5:11.84. In addition, she placed first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:58.01. Plourde scored in three events for the Sharks, placing second in the 200-yard individual medley, third in the 100-yard butterfly and was the top finisher in the consolation finals for the 100-yard breaststroke.
 
Simmons sophomore Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) surpassed her own GNAC record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.40 to slice .44 off her record from last year and previously finished the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26 seconds flat to finish second. First year teammate Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) hit the wall ahead of Giraldi with a time of 25.49 as part of a sweep of the top three places in the event by the Sharks. She also finished second to Simpson in the 200-freestyle with a mark of 1:58.82. Junior diver Alison Gauvin (Whitehead, Maine) won the one-meter diving event with a score of 340.25 points in 11 dives.
 
Saint Joseph's College (Maine) scored 226 points to sit in second place in the women's championship and was led by junior Lauren Prue (Glenburn, Maine), who racked up 34 points on pair of seventh-place showings coming in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard breaststroke and also placed eighth in the 200-yard individual medley. Senior Brooke Huberdeau (North Andover, Mass.) turned in the highest finish for the Monks with a four-place effort in the 500-yard freestyle. 
 
Regis College finished the day in third place with 208 points and was led by sophomore Jessica Higgins (Peabody, Mass.) with 36 points, including a record-breaking performance in the 200-yard backstroke to eclipse her own mark with a time of 2:15.08 to better the previous time by .86 seconds. She also placed third in the 200-yard freestyle. University of Saint Joseph received 30 of its 207 points from first year Veronika Latawiec (Newington, Conn.), who finished second in the 200-yard backstroke and sixth in the 500-yard freestyle. Husson University placed fifth with 172 points, fueled by sophomore Lara Sarett (Smithtown, N.Y.), who won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:19.53 and later finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke. 
 
Norwich was led by freshman Jacob Rubin (Johns Creek, GA). who scored 18 points in the men's meet with a pair of first place finishes, including a GNAC record-setting time of 21.86 to capture the 50-yard freestyle and a first place effort in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 24.38. Sophomore Chris Danieli (Chelmsford, Mass.) was the top diver on the one-meter board with a score of 365.20 to score nine points for the Cadets.
 
Regis' men finished the first day with 121 points and earned five first-place triumphs. Junior Kiet Luong (Malden, Mass.) broke a pair of his own GNAC records with a time of 51.47 to better his previous mark by over two seconds in the 100-yard butterfly. He also topped the field with a GNAC mark of 2:00.42 in the 200-yard backstroke to shave more than two seconds off the effort. Freshman Joshua Unas (Santa Clarita, CA) took home first in the 200-yard individual medley on a time of 2:03.93 and later placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke. Junior teammate Cassidy Bastianelli (Newton, Mass.) also scored 16 points and broke his own conference standard with a time of 1:46.45 in the 200-yard freestyle. He placed second in the 50-freestyle for the Pride as well. Junior Bryan Johnson (Sudbury, Mass.) won the 100-yard breaststroke with a mark of 1:02.82 and also finished fourth in the 50-yard freestyle for Regis.
 
Junior Ryan Burgos (Plaistow, N.H.) placed first in the 500-yard freestyle to pace Elms College, turning in a time of 5:04.89. The Blazers stand with 68 points heading into tomorrow's second day. Junior Ben Johnson (Belmont, Mass.) tallied 11 points for Saint Joseph's College (Maine) with a second-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley and a fourth-place effort in the 50-yard butterfly as part of the Monks' 29 points.
 
The GNAC meet continues tomorrow at the Holmes Sports Center on the Simmons campus at 9:30 a.m.

 

#GOMONKS

 

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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.

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