Blue Devils Remain in First at NEC Championships

Six more events were completed on day three of the 2015 Northeast Conference Championships on Friday night at the Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center in Cambridge, MA and the Blue Devils remain in first place. Central scored 211 points on day three to bring their total score to 536 and now lead Wagner by 28 points heading into the final day of competition on Saturday.

Freshman Maddy Garber, sophomore Christine Rasile and the CCSU 400 yard medley relay team led the Blue Devils on the third day of competition as they each picked up gold medals on the night.

Garber, a freshman who has been sensational for the Blue Devils all season long and has earned four NEC Swimmer of the Week awards to prove it, was sensational once again tonight in the 100 yard breaststroke. In her first ever NEC championship meet, the rookie was the first to touch the wall and broke the NEC meet record, CCSU school record, CCSU freshman record and recorded a NCAA b-cut qualifying time with a time of 1:01.55. Teammate Alaina Papiro also finished in the top-5 in the event, clocking in at 1:04.35.

The 400 yard medley relay team of senior Helene Neuhaus, freshman Maddy Garber, sophomore Sabree Thomas and sophomore Christine Rasile also set a new NEC and CCSU school standard. The squad swam to a time of 3:44.30 breaking the NEC meet record set last year by Wagner by four-tenths of a second and smashing the previous CCSU school record by over four full seconds.

Rasile earned her individual gold medal in the 200 yard free finals, touching the wall first with a time of 1:49.79. Rasile finished almost two full seconds ahead of the second place swimmer and was just over three-tenths of a second shy of breaking the CCSU school record. Freshmen Lauren Czulewicz and Lauren Rasile also recorded top-10 finishes for the Blue Devils in the event. Czulewicz joined Christine Rasile on the podium as she clocked in with a time of 1:52.25 to take the bronze. Lauren Rasile finished eighth overall with a time of 1:55.52.

In the 400 yard IM, sophomore Stephanie Czulewicz finished on the podium for CCSU. Czulewicz picked up the bronze with a time of 4:26.60. Sophomore Lisa Ward and Katie MacDonnell also swam in the event and picked up sixth and eighth place respective finishes. Ward touched the wall at 4:33.42 and MacDonnell came in at 4:37.12.

Sabree Thomas led the way for the Blue Devils in the 100 yard butterfly. The sophomore finished on the podium with a third place finish and time of 55.91.

Senior Helene Neuhaus was runner-up in the 100 yard back finals. Neuhaus earned the silver medal after touching the wall with a time of 55.47.

The Blue Devils 536 points lead Wagner (508), Bryant (396), Saint Francis U (303), Mount (194), Sacred Heart (184) and St. Francis Brooklyn (109).

The fourth and final day of competition will begin with the preliminary rounds at 11 a.m. followed by the finals at 7 p.m. The 2015 Northeast Conference Swimming Champions will be crowned following the final race and all of the action can be viewed live, for free, on NECFrontRow.com.
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Thursday's Recap:

The Central Connecticut swimming and diving team leads the 2015 Northeast Conference Championships after the second day of competition in Cambridge, MA. The Blue Devils scored 285 points on day two and now sit in first place with 325 points.



Central leads Wagner (277), Bryant (190), Saint Francis U (149), Mount (118), Sacred Heart (110) and St. Francis Brooklyn (72).



Five events were completed on Thursday night at the Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center on the campus of MIT, including the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 1-meter diving and 200 free relay.

In the 500 free, freshman Maeve Awiszus and senior Karen Novak finished fourth and fifth respectively to begin the second day of competition. Awiszus touched the wall at 5:02.19 and Novak came in at 5:03.14. Junior Reyna Zascirinskis also recorded a top-10 finish in the event, winning the B-Final to finish ninth overall with a time of 5:02.17.

In the second finals event of the night, freshman Maddy Garber and sophomore Stephanie Czulewicz finished on the podium for the Blue Devils in the 200 IM. Garber finished runner-up in the event with a time of 2:05.17. Czulewicz touched the wall right behind Garber to take the bronze with a time of 2:05.43. Central also had two more representatives in the top-10 in the event. Sophomores Lisa Ward and Sabree Thomas finished sixth and seventh respectively with times of 2:06.78 and 2:07.39.

Senior Helene Neuhaus took the silver medal in the 50 free for the Blue Devils after recording a blistering time of 23.47. She was just eight-hundredths of a second behind the first place swimmer. The Blue Devils had two more swimmers finish in the top-five in the 50 free. The duo of sophomore Christine Rasile and freshman Lauren Rasile placed fourth and fifth respectively in the event. Christine swam to a time of 23.60 and Lauren came in at 23.72.

In the 1-meter dive, CCSU dominated, taking first and second place. Defending most outstanding diver, junior Kaitlyn Beaver, stood on top of the podium finishing first with a score of 225.75. Teammate and freshman Annemarie Durham had an excellent performance in her first ever championship meet. The rookie finished second overall recording a score of 224.25.

The Central 200 freestyle relay team of Lauren Rasile, junior Alaina Papiro, freshman Lauren Czulewicz and Thomas broke the school record in a runner-up finish in the final event of the night. The team touched the wall at 1:34.96 to set the new record and were three tenths of a second behind Wagner to earn the silver.

The Blue Devils will return to action with the third day of the four-day championship meet on Friday with preliminaries at 11 a.m. The finals for Friday's events will begin at 7 p.m.

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 Wednesday's Recap:

The Central Connecticut women's swimming and diving team won both relays on Wednesday night and took an early lead in the 2015 Northeast Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.

Central won the 200 medley relay to begin things and followed that up with a victory in the 800 freestyle relay on Wednesday night.The meet is being held at MIT in Boston. Wednesday night was the first night of the four-day event, which will finish on Saturday.

The Blue Devils scored 40 points in the first two events, and lead Wagner (34), St. Francis U (32), Bryant (30) Mount St. Mary's (28), Sacred Heart (26) and St. Francis Brooklyn.

Day two begins on Thursday with prelims at 11 a.m. and finals at 7 p.m.

Central started the meet by setting an NEC meet and University record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:41.99. The team of senior Helene Neuhaus (backstroke), freshman Maddy Garber (breaststroke), sophomore Sabree Thomas (butterfly) and sophomore Christine Rasile (freestyle) broke the meet record set by St. Francis U last season.

The Blue Devils followed that up with a win in the 800 freestyle relay, as Neuhaus, freshman Lauren Czulewicz, Thomas and Rasile swam a time of 7:27.98 to win by more than three seconds over Wagner.  They were just two seconds under the meet record as the Blue Devils won the event for the sixth time in the last eight championship meets.

Day two of the meet begins on Thursday at 11 a.m.  Fans can follow everything live by visiting www.NortheastConference.org.