Blue Devils Maintain Second Place After Day Three of NEC Championships

The Central Connecticut swimming and diving team, anchored by a first place finish in the 400 medley relay  and a first place finish in the 100 backstroke from senior Kaitlyn Troy on Friday night, maintained their second place standing after the third day of the 2019 Northeast Conference Championships on Friday night.  Central has 413.5 points, trailing only Bryant in the team standings.  Wagner is third, 50 points behind CCSU, followed by Saint Francis University and then LIU Brooklyn in the top five.

NEC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP HOME

The night began as senior Aidan Devers posted a second place finish in the 400 yard individual medley with a time of 4:23.73.  She earned 17 points for her team.  Freshman Alex Lindgren finished in seventh place with a time of 4:38.82 to earn 12 points.  Junior Gracie Regan finished in 13th place with a time of 4:37.22.

Junior Valentina Gomez posted a third place finish in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 55.16 to earn 16 more points for the Blue Devils.  Sophomore Katelyn Mann finished in 15th place overall with a time of 57.92.

Three Blue Devils made the A final in the 200 yard freestyle, and they combined for 39 points in the event.  Freshman Simona Visinski was fourth in 1:52.10, classmate Katie Czulewicz was sixth in 1:52.20 and junior Erika Maercklein was eighth in 1:53.83.  Junior Grace Fredricks placed 14th overall in the event with a finals time of 1:55.74.

Freshman Mariana Espino placed fifth in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.30.  Mann was 10th in 1:05.52 and Lindgren was 14th in 1:06.19.  The three combined to earn 23.5 points.

Troy won the gold in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.14, earning 20 points for her team.  Junior Alexis Fredricks was fourth in 55.95 and freshman Jeannette King was seventh in 57.03.  The three combined for 47 points.

The night ended with an impressive first place finish in the 400 medley relay.  The team of Troy, Espino, Gomez and Visinski finished in 3:45.77 to claim 40 points and the victory in the event.

The fourth and final day of the NEC Championships will begin with prelims at 10 a.m. on Saturday.