WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. -- The University of New England women's swimming team placed 5th out of 21 teams at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association (NEISDA) Championships. The three-day swimming portion concluded on February 10 at the Upper Valley Aquatics Center.
Once diving scores were factored in, from the following weekend, the Nor'easters ended with their highest finish in the event in program history. The squad totaled 725 points in the swimming alone, landing behind Keene State College (1692), Eastern Connecticut State University (1136.5), Roger Williams University (1125.5), and Saint Michael's College (743).
Big Blue compiled nine All-New England performances (top 8 individuals in an event) and established four new team records along the way.
First-year
Sara DeAngelo had the highest event-finish of the UNE swimmers, touching the wall 2nd by just 0.08 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly (1:01.52). Her preliminary time in the event was good enough for an ECAC B-Cut.
DeAngelo also took 5th in the 200 butterfly (2:16.71). She recorded a 2:15.31 in the preliminary swim to set the program record that had been logged by Ali Wagner (2:19.21) at the 2007 Championships.
Sophomore
Kelly Dolyak registered three All-New England showings, coming in the 200 (5th), 500 (8th), and 1650 (8th) freestyle races. Her final time in the 500 free ended up 5:30.16, but her preliminary time of 5:26.56 bettered the previous program record of Alison Leopard (5:31.88) that came in the 2009 Championships. Dolyak's times in the 200 and 1650 were 2:01.81 and 18:52.27, respectively.
Sophomore
Emily Zeimetz equaled Dolyak in the three All-New England finishes. She wound up 4th in the 50 butterfly (27.31), 7th in the 100 butterfly (1:02.81), and 8th in the 100 individual medley (1:04.73).
Senior
Rachel Hanley chalked up the remaining All-New England performance for the team, with a 7th-place effort in the 400 individual medley (4:58.35). She also finished just oustide of all-NE status in the 200 individual medley (9th), where her 2:18.74 time in the finals edged the 2:19.77 of
Jenn La Comfora (set in December 2011) from the school records.
Dolyak, DeAngelo, Hanley, and La Comfora teamed up in the 800 freestyle relay to break another program mark, posting an 8:23.02 to clip the group from the 2012 Championships by 2.30 seconds.
The 200 freestyle relay squad of first-year
Sam Briggs, Zeimetz, DeAngelo, and Hanley achieved an ECAC A-Cut with a 1:43.32 in the first swim of the weekend.
Those four will head to Harvard University on March 1 for that very competition in the ECAC Championships.
For more info, records, awards, etc. from the NEISDA Championships, click
HERE.
