Saint Francis (PA) picked the best day to top the points column, as the champions waited until final day to capture the lead and the program’s second straight Northeast Conference Swimming and Diving title. The Red Flash swimmers passed a previously winning Central Connecticut State squad by a 32-point margin. The victors finished with 791 points, claiming seven total events and shattering five conference records in the process. Central Connecticut State stepped aside to the runner-up position for the second year in a row, winning five events and scoring 759 points. Wagner finished the meet in third with 570 tallies, while Bryant repeated last season’s fourth place performance with a 423-point mark. After exchanging rankings for the last two days, Sacred Heart pushed ahead with 294 points for fifth, and Mount St. Mary’s slipped into sixth with 253. St. Francis (NY) rounded out the three-day competition in seventh, bringing in 147 points.
For the second year in a row, Casey Ostrander (Yarmouthport, MA/Bishop Stang) took home NEC Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet honors. The Bryant sophomore won gold in the 50 freestyle (23.60), and set new NEC records in the 100-yard backstroke (55.83) and 200-yard backstroke (2:00.76) en route to totaling three first-place finishes. Saint Francis’ (PA) Elise Lofgren (Molnlycke, Sweden/Hulebacks) had a stellar first outing, winning two gold medals and a silver to nab NEC Outstanding Rookie of the Meet. Lofgren won gold and broke conference records in both the 100-yard breastroke (1:03.23) and 200-yard breastroke (2:16.50). On the first day of the meet, the freshman notched second in the 200-yard individual medley (2:04.23). In addition to claiming the one-meter and three-meter titles and breaking a league record in the latter, Central Connecticut diver Madison Vestergaard (Middletown, CT/Middletown) garnered NEC Diver of the Meet. Her coach Dave Maliar was tabbed as the league’s Diving Coach of the Year and Bryant’s Katie Cameron garnered her first NEC Coach of the Year.
To kick off the last day of finals, Vestergaard added a three-meter gold to her collection, besting the previous conference record of 235.10 with an impressive 248.40. Teammate Sam Smolicz (Berlin, CT/Berlin) also finished above the former league mark in second, earning a second silver with a 235.95. Completing the Blue Devil sweep was Kellyn Goldberger (Berlin, CT/Berlin), who took a bronze by notching a 168.55.
In a hint of what was to come, the Red Flash began the night by pocketing a gold and silver in the grueling 1,650-yard freestyle. Freshman Megan Collins (Free Monroeville, PA/Oakland College) had only smooth water surrounding her as she finished well ahead of the pack at 17:03.39. Teammate Bethany Lanzendoen (River Edge, NJ/River Dell) was outside smoke, picking up second from lane nine with a 17:16.29. Central put a swimmer on the podium for a bronze, as Lauren O’ Kelly (Brewster, NY/Brewster) clocked a 17:18.43.
Setting her second conference record of the meet, Bryant’s Ostrander won the 200-yard backstroke title with a 2:00.76. No stranger to the podium, Central’s Alex Czaplicki (North Haven, CT/North Haven) added a silver to her two individual medley golds, hitting the pad at 2:02.26. In third was Blue Devil Hannah Packer (Manchester, CT/Manchester), grabbing the bronze for Central with a 2:04.43.
Continuing its assault on the top of the podium, Saint Francis took the top spot in the 100-yard freestyle. Freshman Alicia Ford (Whitney Point, NY/Whitney Point) touched first in a time of 51.03, followed by Central Connecticut’s Taylor Friedmann (Berlin, CT/Berlin) and Helene Neuhaus (Weatport, CT/Staples). Friedmann edged her teammate’s 51.27 with a slightly faster 51.14.
Another Saint Francis rookie toppled the field to get first-place points for the Red Flash, as Lofgren captured the 200-yard breastroke event in record breaking fashion. Lofgren’s 2:16.50 toppled Bryant’s Molly Smith (Belmont, MA/Belmont), who occupied the runner-up slot with a 2:21.02. Wagner managed to claim the third podium spot thanks to Kelsey Thomas’ (Hammonton, NJ/Holy Spirit) 2:22.36 clocking.
Sacred Heart won its first gold of the conference finale in the 200-yard butterfly. Senior Katie Marshall (Cumberland, RI/Saint Mary Academy Bay-View) defended her 2010 crown, hitting at a quick 2:03.87. Saint Francis’ Libby Francis (Dundee, Scotland/Grove Academy) swam to a second-place with a 2:05.20, and Mount St. Mary’s Patricia Yam (Placenta, CA/Rosary) found third in a time of 2:07.42.
Saint Francis (PA) truly ended the night on a high note, solidifying their championship title by winning the 400-yard freestyle relay and breaking a NEC record in the process. The foursome of Hanna Yttring (Gothenburg, Sweden/Katrinelundsgymnasiet), Melissa Heintz (Boyertown, PA/Oakland Catholic), Jenny Demjanenko (New Albany, OH/Gahanna-Lincoln) and Ford capped a winning night with a gold-medal worthy 3:28.20. Central Connecticut State’s Neuhaus, Katie Lang (Monroe, CT/Masuk), Czaplicki and Friedmann took second place with a 3:28.95. Bryant finished the weekend with a bronze medal, as Kaitlin Buckley (Duxbury, MA/Duxbury), Amy D’Olympia (Mattapoisett, MA/Bishop Stang), Taylor DeBever (Denver, CO/Regis Jesuit) and Ostrander swam a 3:29.80.
After three days of competition and 20 events, the meet ended with nine new league records.