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WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Maeve McDermott collected three medals, including a victory in the 100-individual medley, to lead the University of New England women's swimming team to a 5th-place finish out of 11 institutions at the 2026 Little East Conference (LEC) Swimming & Diving Championships, which wrapped up day three swimming action on Sunday (Feb. 15) at the Boston Sports Institute.

Eastern Connecticut State University returned to the top for the second time in three years, totaling 839.5 points. Reigning winner Keene State College was next at 529 points, followed by Bridgewater State University (487) and Husson University (461). Even without scoring opportunities in the diving events, the Nor'easters collected 449 points.

McDermott's 1st-place effort in the 100-IM was done in school-record fashion (+0.07, Lindsey Thomsen, 2016-17) with a time of 1:02.36. UNE, now four years into its affiliation with the LEC, has now won the event twice (previously Olivia Roy in 2023), and McDermott did it Sunday by 1.05 seconds. She also notched 31.90 in the 50-breast -- another school record (+0.03, Payton Walmsley, 2024-25) -- and took 2nd place. McDermott doubled-up during the Friday-night session, clocking 2:19.17 in the 200-IM to claim 2nd place, again.

After medaling in the 200-IM (2nd) and 100-IM (3rd) last season, McDermott now has five solo and one relay to her credit.

The two other medals earned by the Nor'easters over the weekend came from Walmsley. She touched the wall in 1:11.76 in the 100-breast to pick up a 3rd-place finish that was barely in front of Emily Gilliam in fourth (0.02). Walmsley was also 3rd place in the 200-breast with a time of 2:37.48, and again, just fractionally ahead of Gilliam (0.17).

Walmsley -- who also wound up 5th in the 50-breast (32.73) on Friday -- was the LEC Rookie of the Year last season, when she came home with solo medals in the 100-breast (2nd) and 50-breast (3rd), plus the hardware from three relays.

By finishing in the top three of an event, it comes with All-LEC 1st Team, 2nd Team, and 3rd Team accolades, respectively.

Other individuals to qualify for event finals:

• Gilliam, 4th in the 200-breast (2:37.65),4th in the 100-breast (1:11.78), 6th in the 50-breast (32.79)
• Meghan Cabral, 4th in 100-IM (1:05.94), 7th in the 100-breast (1:14.66), 8th in the 50-breast (33.64)
• Tess Zurawski, 4th in the 200-back (2:16.00), 7th in the 100-back (1:03.35)