CCSU Moves into Second After Day Two at NECs
Behind a one-two finish from the 1-meter board and a silver medal in the 50 free, the Blue Devils move into the number two spot at the NEC Championships Thursday.
The Central Connecticut swimming and diving team moved into second place after day two of the 2014 NEC Championships on Thursday in Cambridge, MA behind a one-two finish in the 1-meter dive event, from sophomores Jessica Goldman and Kaitlyn Beaver, and a record-breaking, silver-medal performance in the 50 free from freshman Christine Rasile.
Goldman claimed the gold in the 1-meter for the second-consecutive season Thursday. She defended her title posting a score of 211.55. She was followed closely by Beaver who tallied 208.00 for the silver.
Junior Kaitlyn Dwyer finished sixth from 1-meter, also adding to CCSU's point total with her score of 188.15.
In the 50 freestyle, Rasile touched the wall in 23.74, breaking the CCSU freshman record of 23.79 set in 1998. Senior Erin Massey followed, finishing in 24.56 for 11th.
Rasile and Massey also joined the CCSU 200 freestyle relay squad. The pair, along with senior Kellen Power and freshman Sabree Thomas, placed fifth in the event registering a time of 1:36.13.
In the 200 IM, Thomas led the Blue Devils with her seventh-place finish. The freshman, who finished fourth in the prelims, posted a career-best time of 2:06.43 in the race. Thomas was joined by three other teammates in the finals, all surpassing their previous season-best times in either Thursday's preliminary or final race.
Gulia clocked a 2:07.83 for eighth, followed by freshmen Stephanie Czulewicz (10th, 2:08.42) and Lisa Ward (13th, 2:09.58).
Central sent four qualifiers to the 500 freestyle finals Thursday evening. Power paced CCSU, finishing 10th with her time of 5:01.95, followed by classmate Kathryn Kiely (12th, 5:03.76), junior Karen Novak (13th, 5:04.86) and sophomore Selene Chilton (16th, 5:11.86).
As in the 200 IM, each of the four Blue Devil qualifiers in the 500 free surpassed her season-best mark in either the preliminary or final round.
After two days and seven events, Wagner still holds the lead with 297 team points, followed by CCSU with 214. Bryant sits in third with 207 while Saint Francis U (205) and Mount St. Mary's (131) round out the top five.
Central continues NEC action tomorrow, Friday, February 21. Fans can follow all of the action LIVE by watching the free video web stream on NECFrontRow.com.
Fans can also follow the live action on Twitter @NECSwimDive and via LIVE RESULTS.
For more information, visit the NEC Championship headquarters at NortheastConference.org.