Sweep Of 200 Butterfly Helps Extend Swimming & Diving Lead At NEC Championships

The Central Connecticut State swimming and diving team remains atop the team standings at the 2024 Northeast Conference Swimming and Diving Championship, in Genea, OH, with 1,122.5 points. The Blue Devils scored 107 points in the 200 butterfly and added 106 points in diving as they tallied 370 points Friday night.

Howard is in second place with 883 points, followed by Wagner at 810.5.  The Blue Devils extended their lead by 115 points on Friday.

The Blue Devils opened the night with a sweep of the medal podium in the 200 butterfly. Shannon Welcome, seventh at the midway point and a second off the lead, took the lead on the third 50 on her way to a gold medal at 2:04.36. Gabi Wroblewski and Sophie Milhomens were right behind, going 2:04.45 and 2:04.53 for silver and bronze.

Jillena Plowucha moved up one spot in the consolation final, placing 15^th at 2:11.56. Kyla Behrle placed 20^th with a 2:11.91 swim Friday afternoon, while Wynter Berube placed 22^nd at 2:13.21.

Megan Dunnigan picked up the bronze in the 100-backstroke, moving up from fifth at the halfway point and clocking a 56.31. Katrine O'Leary was fourth for the Blue Devils, touching at 56.54. Nathalie Pena picked up 11 points by finishing 16^th, with a swim of 58.93.

Cassidy Stotler finished fourth in a tightly contested 100-breaststroke, going 1:03.45, 0.22 seconds behind the silver medalist. Grace Young won the C-Final, dropping 1.5 seconds from prelims and touched at 1:06.63, while Abby Bacon finished 21^st at 1:07.89.

Zoe Baker earned bronze on the 3-meter board, scoring 255.10 points. Kaitlyn Carroll scored 241.05 to finish sixth, just 0.9 points from fifth place. Rachel Giroux tallied 206.60 points to finish eighth. Jewelle Maziarz won the consolation heat on the high board, scoring 237.90 points. Ali Albanese moved up one spot in the consolation, tallying 165.45 to grab 14^th place.

CCSU capped the evening with a bronze in the 400-medley relay, touching at 3:48.77. Milhomens opened the relay with a 57.56 split. Cassidy Stotler followed with a 1:03.28 breaststroke leg and Dunnigan followed with a 57.10 effort in the butterfly. Welcome anchored the relay with a split of 50.83.

The final day of the championship gets underway Saturday at 10:00 am with preliminary heats in the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, and 200 breaststroke. The 1,650 heats will begin at 3:50 pm and the final session gets underway at 6:00 pm. The entire championship is viewable on NECFrontRow.com

PRELIM NOTES

200 Butterfly

• Welcome posted the morning's top swim, touching at 2:05.10 to lead three Blue Devils into the championship final
• Wroblewski took the third spot in the finals going 2:05.97, while Milhomens is the fifth-seed at 2:06.34
• Plowucha captured the final spot in the consolation heat, touching 16^th with a time of 2:11.49, and Behrle is the top seed in the C-Final after going 2:11.99
• Wynter Berube will also swim in the C-Final, after putting up a 2:12.97 effort
• Marley Milne swam a 2:15.64 Friday morning, good for 28^th, while Hannah Kretkowski swam 2:17.08 to finish 32^nd

100 Backstroke

• All three Blue Devil entrants earned swims in the evening session, with two earning championship final berths
• O'Leary was the top qualifier for the Blue Devils, third overall, with a 56.27
• Dunnigan was close behind, qualifying fourth at 56.51
• Pena earned the 14^th spot and will swim in the consolation final, after going 57.94

100 Breaststroke

• Once again, all three Blue Devils earned spots in the evening session, with Cassidy Stotler pacing the effort by qualifying third with a swim of 1:03.92
• Bacon, 1:08.00, and Young, 1:08.16, are the 18^th and 20^th seeds respectively in the C-Final

3-Meter Diving

• The Blue Devils have placed three divers into Thursday night's championship final
• Carroll qualified third with 2:57.40 points, 10.7 points off the morning leader
• Baker tallied 243.20 points and is fifth, while Giroux qualified seventh with 209.65 points
• Maziarz earned the ninth spot during prelims, at 204.20 points, and Albanese was 15^th at 147.20