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East Meadow, NY -- The first night of the 2019 NEC Swimming & Diving Championships is in the books, with Bryant leading wire to wire to open up a 64-point advantage over the field.
 
All three gold medals went to the Bulldogs to open up the four-day event hosted by the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y.  Bryant earned victories in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays, as well as the 1-meter diving competition to end the night with 165 points. Wagner currently sits in second with 101 points.    
 
The Bulldogs opened up the evening with a team win in the 200 MR, touching first at 1:40.71.  Alaina Scifo (Ipswich, Great Britain/Lakenheath American) led off the race to give her team an early lead, Kayleigh Canavan (Cumberland, RI/Cumberland) maintained the lead in the breaststroke, Elin Svard (Falun, Dalarna, Sweden/Hagströnska gymnasiet) widened the gap, and Jillian Rice (Trumbull, CT/Saint Joseph) closed it out.
 
Central Connecticut placed second with a time of 1:43.05 to narrowly outlast Wagner for the silver medal.  The Blue Devil group was spearheaded by Kaitlyn Troy (Montgomery, NY/ Valley Central/Newburgh Sharks), Mariana Espino (Mexico City, Mexico/Entro Universitario Angloe Mexicano), Katelyn Mann (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Township) and Jeannette King (Rochester, MA/Bishop Stang).  Wagner -- led by Hande Kivanc (Istanbul, Turkey/Lake Forest Academy) , Ellie Eastwood (Whangarei, New Zealand/Epsom Girls Grammar), Andrea Gustaffsson (Malmo, Sweden/ProCivitas Privata Gymnasium) and Dorian McMenemy (Northborough, MA / Algonquin Regional) – finished third in 1:43.50. 
 
The NEC Championship then shifted from swimming to the diving boards, as Bryant continued its dominating night with gold and bronze medals. 
 
Kelci Abernethy (Chandler, AZ/Perry), a past NEC champion in the same event, won the 1-meter with a total score of 238.40. Wagner’s Adrianna Warning (Henderson, NV/Coronado/Indian River State College) trailed by just over three points, finishing with a 235.35 to take second, and Gabby Ritzer (Sutton, MA/Sutton Memorial) placed third with a 232.50 to collect another medal for the Bulldogs. 
 
Bryant's relay dominance continued after sweeping those events last year.  The 800 freestyle relay event featured the first meet record of the championship, with Bryant swimming to a new NEC standard time of 7:21.70. The Bulldogs' winning relay squad consisted of Scifo, Svard, Alyssa Difiore (Wethersfield, CT/Wethersfield) and anchor Rice to topple the previous best conference mark of 7:22.53.
 
LIU Brooklyn earned its first medal of the championships with a silver medal relay swim of 7:26.53. The Blackbirds were backed by Amanda Peren (Alexandria, VA/Thomas Edison), Amanda San Juan (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson County Prep), Jeann Touchette-McGowan (Dorval, Quebec, Canada/College Sainte Anne De Lachine) and Noemie Lacroix-Moreau (Montreal, Quebec, Canada/Cegep John Abbott College).  Central Connecticut's Katie Czulewicz (Norwalk,CT/Norwalk), Aidan Devers (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro), Erika Maercklein (Branford, CT/Branford) and Simona Visinski (Shelton, CT/Shelton) touched the wall at 7:29.82 for bronze.
 
The NEC Swimming and Diving Championships will resume on Thursday morning at 10:00 am with the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free and 200 free Relay. 

Team Standings - Day 1