Results
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WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Annika Doeppers and Olivia Roy each captured an individual event as the University of New England women's swimming team placed 5th out of 10 programs at the 2023 Little East Conference (LEC) Swimming & Diving Championships, which concluded day three of action on Sunday (Feb. 19) at the Boston Sports Institute. It was UNE's first time competing at the LEC meet.

Keene State College won the team title for the 16th straight season with a score of 830.5, which bested Bridgewater State University (692) and Eastern Connecticut State University (583.5) in the top three. Westfield State University was fourth at 530 points, and the Nor'easters posted 442.5 after the 50 events were done. UNE was almost 170 points ahead of the next closest squad.

Doeppers was victorious in the first solo final of the weekend, the 500-freestyle (5:30.19), and Roy took the last, the 100-individual medley (1:03.56). Both efforts also come with the distinction of LEC 1st Team. Doeppers needed to rally for her result, as the sophomore was in fourth place through 300 yards (-1.42) and third through 400 (-0.58) before surging in the last hundred to touch first by 0.93 seconds. Roy's triumph came in similar fashion, as she overcame a small deficit (-0.32) at the 50 turn and hit the wall with a thrilling lead of merely 0.02 seconds. Roy was third in the 100 IM prelim qualifier earlier in the day.

All three individual swims for Doeppers garnered All-LEC status, as she finished runner-up both the 1,650-freestyle (19:09.36) and 1,000-freestyle (11:34.88) to claim LEC 2nd Team recognition. The full mile race ended with a separation of just 2.06 seconds at the top -- Doeppers had trailed by nearly seven ticks prior to the midway mark.

Roy registered UNE's other top-3 showing in the 100-butterfly (1:03.81), with a 3rd-place result that was about four seconds back of the leader. She additionally wound up 4th in the 200-individual medley (2:24.66), less than four seconds off the pace.

Ari Cioffi and Meghan Cabral both swam in the finals of two events to add to the Nor'easter team score. The pair went 6th and 7th, respectively, in the 50-breaststroke (34.08 and 34.98). Cioffi also recorded 8th place in the 50-freestyle sprint, where the entire top qualifying heat finished within 0.96 seconds. Cabral took 7th in the 100-breaststroke (1:16.46).

Eloise Ring and Elli Donovan competed in the remaining two of the 12 finals which featured UNE swimmers. Ring was 7th in the 50-butterfly (29.65), about three seconds behind the lead, and Donovan was 7th in the 200-freestyle (2:07.31).

The 800-freestyle relay of Doeppers, Taylor Gibson, Regina Dyer, and Ring was the only group of five relays to finish something other than 5th place, taking 4th (8:51.60). The times for the rest were 1:47.24 (200-freestyle relay), 2:00.99 (200-medley), 3:57.07 (400-freestyle), and 4:24.22 (400-medley). Doeppers and Roy were the busiest contributors, taking on four apiece, while Cioffi, Ring, and Donovan swam in three each.

The two victories by Doeppers and Roy marked the first postseason wins by Nor'easter swimmers since Courtney Burdick captured the program's first couple at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association (NEISDA) Championships in 2007 and 2006. UNE competed in that meet from 2005 through 2022; 2022 was also when the Nor'easters first joined a multi-sport conference to participate in its league championship. UNE took third place in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) competition last season, and signed on with the Little East Conference in the summer of 2022.