PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Berthiaume '24
WORCESTER, Mass. – Saint Joseph's College closed out the first day of the 2024 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Championships with both teams in third place at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Sports and Recreation Center on Friday.
The SJC women sit in third place with 183 team points while the Monks' men have 11 total points. Looking to repeat a 2023 double championship performance, Norwich University leads the women's side with 326 points and comfortably sits atop the men's table with 175 team points.
For the women, Simmons University is second with 275 points and is followed by Saint Joseph's (183), Regis College (165), Elms College (152), University of Saint Joseph (137), Colby-Sawyer College (89), and Albertus Magnus College (56).
On the men's side, Regis holds the second spot with 66 points followed by the Monks, Colby-Sawyer (11), University of Saint Joseph (8), and Albertus Magnus College (3).
Five SJC program records fell on the opening day of the three-day event, as sophomore Lucas Fendl (Ellsworth, Maine) broke the 50-Fly mark with a 24.53 time, senior Brooke Podsiadlo (Granby, Mass.) took down the 1000-Free record – which stood for 13 years – with a 11:35.57 effort, and freshman Berkley Hutchins (Springfield, Vt.) topped an 11 year-old record with a win and 1:10.68 time in the 100-Breast.
The Monks' 200-Medley Relay and 400-Free Relay teams also set new program records with times of 1:55.69 and 3:54.05, respectively.
The second day of the conference championships begins tomorrow with prelims at 10:00 AM and finals at 6:05 PM.
GNAC RELEASE:
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Norwich men's and women's teams sit atop the leaderboard after the first day of competition at the 2024 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Swimming & Diving Championships. The Cadets scored 175 points on the men's side, while the women recorded a team score of 326. Day two of the three-day event begins tomorrow, Feb. 3 with preliminaries at 10 a.m.
Friday's competition featured the first nine events of this year's championships.
In the men's competition, Regis ranks second after day one with 66 points, followed by Saint Joseph's (Maine) and Colby-Sawyer tied for third with 11. The University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) scored eight points, while Albertus Magnus collected three.
For the women, Simmons finished the first day of the championship in second with 275 points with Saint Joseph's (Maine) following with 183. Regis and Elms completed the top-five with 165 and 152 points, respectively. The University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), Colby-Sawyer, and Albertus Magnus finished the day with respective scores of 137, 89, and 56.
The Norwich men took first place in eight events, starting with the 200 medley relay as the foursome of Adrian Riendeau, Will Thompson, Arthur Abrams, and Gio Giovenco finished with a time of 1:38.571. Thompson was also the individual champion in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall at 57.53, and teamed up with Benjamin Stark, Kristian Adlianitski, and Martin Adlianitski to take first in the 400 freestyle relay. They clocked in at 3:12.48.
The three other members of the 400 free relay champions also took home individual titles with Stark winning the 400 IM at 4:12.07, Kristian Adlianitski taking the 200 freestyle at 1:45.91, and Martin Adlianitski touching in at 10:06.66 in the 1000 freestyle. Andrew Clark and Aidan Grady were the last two Cadet men to take individual titles winning the 200 backstroke and 3-meter diving events. Clark's time was 2:05.08 with Grady scoring 401.50.
The Pride claimed the only other individual title on the men's side as Cody Werner won the 50 butterfly with a time of 24.15.
In the women's championship, Norwich claimed individual titles in three events, including Kylie Farris' 2:18.79 time in the 200 backstroke. Brandy Lewis also won the 1000 freestyle with a time of 11:07.64 and Reilly Laitala captured the 3-meter diving crown with a score 230.05.
The Sharks secured their second-place spot after day one thanks in part to GNAC Championship record-breaking performance from Carli Quinlan. She earned first-place in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:54.44, besting the previous mark of 1:55.27 set by Aine Scholand in 2019. Quinlan was also part of Simmons' two GNAC Champion relays. She joined Camelia Hannah, Katelyn Quinlan, and Kenzie Lowry to finish the 200 medley relay at 1:54.41. The two Quinlans and Lowry were joined by Bee Eckels in the 400 freestyle relay to clock in at 3:45.80 to earn the GNAC title.
Saint Joseph's (Maine), Elms, and Colby-Sawyer each had one individual champion on day one. Representing the Monks was Berkley Hutchins who won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:10.68, while DeAngela Fobbs was the Blazers top performer, touching the wall at 26.64 to win the 50 butterfly. The Chargers' Rebecca Radonovich won the 400 IM with a time of 4:57.66.
Day two of the GNAC Championships features the next nine scoring events counting towards the GNAC title. Additionally, prior to the start of the evening finals session, the conference will recognize its senior competitors with the Senior Recognition Ceremony.
ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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