Blue Devil Bonanza! CCSU Wins Third Straight NEC Women's Swimming & Diving Crown 2/18/2017 Click Here For Day Complete Results Click Here For Day Four Results Click Here For Day Three Results Click Here For Day Two Results Click Here For Day One Results Click Here For Championship Headquarters Cambridge, MA -- On the final day of the 2017 NEC Swimming and Diving Championship, Central Connecticut won 10 medals en-route to its third-straight title and sixth in program history. The Blue Devils won going away, amassing 869.5 points and 26 medals. Bryant finished second with 605 points and Wagner third with 578.5 points. CCSU also earned four major awards. Bill Ball was named the NEC Coach of the Year for the third year in a row and fifth time in his career. Maddy Garber (Milford, MA/Milford) was named the NEC Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet and Annemarie Durham (East Lyme, CT/East Lyme) was tabbed the NEC Outstanding Diver of the Meet. In addition, Alexis Fredricks (Grace Island, NY/Mount St. Mary’s Academy) was selected the NEC Rookie of the Meet. Bryant’s Chuck LoCurto was named the NEC Diving Coach of the Year for the second year running. Durham won both diving gold medals and set new conference records in both events. Garber recorded several NCAA ‘B’ cut times and won five medals while Fredricks picked up three medals. LoCurto coached Bryant to four diving medals over the week. The 1,650 freestyle race started the night’s competition. Wagner’s Maddie McNichol (Downington, PA/Henderson) won gold with 17:08.68, almost five seconds ahead of second place Valentina Gomez (Harrison, VA/Hudson Catholic) of CCSU, who swam the event in 17:13.45. Bryant’s Alyssa Difiore (Wethersfield, CT/Wethersfield) followed in third at 17:26.96 Just one night after winning the 100 backstroke, Wagner’s Anu Nihipali (Honolulu, HI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy) set a new conference record with an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 1:58.32 to claim gold in the 200 backstroke, eclipsing the old mark by .01 second. CCSU rounded out the top three as Fredricks finished second and Aiden Devers (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) finished third with 1:59.56 and 1:59.94, respectively. CCSU’s Christine Rasile (Branford, CT/Branford) followed her 200 free win by claiming gold in the 100 free. She swam the event in 49.95 to post an NCAA ‘B’ cut time. The race for second was a photo finish, but Rasile’s teammate, Lauren Czulewicz (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) slid into second place by .01 over LIU Brooklyn’s Briana Vega (Brooklyn, NY). Saint Francis U’s Katie Lafferty (Bremen, IN/Bremen) finished just .01 outside of third. Czulewicz and Vega clocked in at 51.13 and 51.14, respectively. Garber continued her success in the 200 breaststroke. After recording an NCAA ‘B’ cut time during the preliminary round by swimming the event in 2:13.35, she followed with another NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 2:13.49 to win gold. Wagner’s Katja Claesson’s (Fullerton, CA/Troy High School) finished second (2:16.46) and CCSU’s Lisa Ward (Trumbull, CT/Trumbull) (2:18.64) landed in third. In a thrilling finish in the 200 fly, LIU Brooklyn’s Noemi Lacroix-Moreau (Montreal, Quebec) just edged out her teammate, Danielle Jefferies (Kihei, HI), by .15 seconds. The pair finished in 2:03.55 and 2.04:10, respectively, to give the Blackbirds the one-two finish. CCSU’s Sabree Thomas (South Hadley, MA/South Hadley) touched in 2:05.31 for third place. The diving competition also concluded on Saturday with the 3-meter event. CCSU’s Durham won her second gold of the meet, scoring 280.70 – an NCAA ‘A’ score and a new conference record. She had previously set a new NEC record in prelims with 263.60 points. Bryant again picked up silver and bronze with Kelci Abernethy (Chandler, AZ/Perry) finishing second and Stephanie Jennings (Elmont, NY/Elmont Memorial) third. Abernethy recorded a 279.85 and Jennings a 252.80. CCSU capped the meet with a close win in the 400 free relay. Erika Maercklin (Branford, CT/Branford), Kaitlyn Troy (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central), Lauren Czulewicz (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) and Christine Rasile (Branford, CT/Branford) ushed the team to a 3:25.25 finish. In second came LIU Brooklyn with a time of 3:25.31. Oleksandra Kashyrina (Odessa, Ukraine), Katelyn Coleman (Lac La Biche, Alberta), Briana Vega (Brooklyn, NY) and Noemie Lacroix-Moreau (Montreal, Quebec) swam for the Blackbirds. Wagner’s team of Anu Nihipali (Honolulu, IHI/Hawaii Preparatory Academy), Kirsty Hessing (Bloomington, IL/Normal Community), Andrea Gustafsson (Malmo, Sweden/ProCivitas Privata Gymnasium) and Maddie McNichol (Downington, PA/Henderson) finished third with a time of 3:25.89. Final Team Results 1. Central Connecticut 869.5 2. Bryant 605 3. Wagner 578.5 4. LIU Brooklyn 404 5. Saint Francis U 405.5 6. Sacred Heart 214.5 7. Mount St. Mary’s 204 8. St. Francis Brooklyn 187