Blue Devils Fall In Quad-Meet At FIU

The Central Connecticut women's swimming and diving team fell in a quad-meet at Florida International University on Thursday afternoon. Joining the Blue Devils at the meet were FIU, Texas Christian University and Florida Atlantic University. In head-to-head competition, the Blue Devils fell to FIU 239-61, TCU 199-101 and FAU 178-119. Central was led by freshman swimmer Maddy Garber at the meet, who finished the day with two individual victories.

Garber, who was named the Corvias ECAC Rookie of the Week yesterday, picked up two individual victories in the 100 and 200 yard breaststroke. In the 100 breast Garber took gold with a time of 1:05.17. She earned her second gold medal of the day in the 200 breast with a time of 2:17.98, which was more than five seconds faster than the second-place swimmer.

Garber was also the first representative for CCSU in the 200 yard individual medley with a sixth place finish. The rookie touched the wall with a time of 2:12.76 to record her sixth place finish.

Garber's impressive day in the pool did not stop there, as she also helped the 200 yard medley relay team to a fourth place finish. The team consisted of Garber, senior Helene Neuhaus and sophomores Sabree Thomas and Christine Rasile. The squad combined to log a time of 1:49.47, which was less than two seconds behind the leader, to earn their fourth place finish.

In the 1,000 yard freestyle, the Blue Devils were led by junior Selene Chilton. Chilton swam to a time of 10:35.78 to earn a fourth place finish for CCSU. Chilton was also the first to touch the wall for Central in the 200 yard butterfly. The Chelmsford, MA native earned a seventh place finish with a time of 2:13.35.

The Blue Devils took sixth, seventh and eighth place out of 15 swimmers in the 100 yard freestyle. Neuhaus led the way for Central in sixth recording a time of 54.72. Christine Rasile was next with a final time of 54.74 and freshman Lauren Czulewicz took eighth with a time of 55.33.

Junior Kaitlyn Beaver and senior Kaitlyn Dwyer led the way for the Blue Devils off the diving board at FIU. Beaver picked up a seventh place finish from the 1-meter board with a score of 213.97 and a tenth place finish from 3-meter board with a score of 214.05 in six dive attempts. Dwyer recorded a pair of ninth place finishes from the 1-meter and 3-meter boards with respective scores of 206.47 and 215.55.

Freshman Annemarie Durham was also a bright spot for CCSU as she had the best day of her career so far as a Blue Devil diver. The rookie recorded career-best diving scores from both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards at the meet. She scored 212.47 from the 1-meter which was good for an eighth place finish and 180.30 from the 3-meter board in six dive attempts.

The Blue Devils will return home to the state of Connecticut for their next meet on Jan. 24 where they will travel to Fairfield for a tri-meet with the Stags and Pioneers from Sacred Heart. The meet is scheduled to begin at 1 pm. Following that meet, the Blue Devils will host Wagner for a home meet in the Jack Suydam Natatorium on Feb. 7.