2023-24 Northeast Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Preseason Coaches Poll                 1. CCSU (unanimous)                 2. Wagner                 3. Howard                 4. LIU                 5. Saint Francis U                 6. Sacred Heart                 7. Merrimack                 8. Stonehill                 9. Le Moyne                 First place votes in parentheses

Bridgewater, NJ -- After winning an NEC record seventh NEC Women’s Swimming & Diving crown a year ago, all signs point toward Central Connecticut remaining atop the conference pecking order.
 
The Blue Devils were selected unanimously by head coaches around the league to repeat as NEC champion. A successful defense of its crown would give CCSU the third back-to-back title in program annals (2008-2009 & 2015-2017).
 
Fresh off a runner-up finish last year, Wagner is expected to contend once again in 2023-24 after being picked second in the poll. In third place was Howard, followed by LIU and Saint Francis U rounding out the top five, respectively. Sacred Heart, Merrimack, Stonehill and Le Moyne completed the poll in that order. This will be Le Moyne’s debut season as an NEC member as the Dolphins embark on their four-year DI reclassification.
 
The NEC’s all-time leader with six NEC Coach/Coaching Staff of the Year honors, Bill Ball has led CCSU to six championship titles and eight runner-up finishes. Over the course of his decorated 21-year career, the Blue Devils have never finished outside of the top-four at the NEC Championship. The defending champions tallied 659.5 points at the 2023 conference meet with a 58-point gap ahead of runner-up Wagner.
 
CCSU welcomes back a talented roster including the 2023 NEC Most Outstanding Diver, Jewelle Maziarz (Newmarket, NH/Newmarket). The sophomore earned gold in the 1-meter dive (245.60) and bronze in the 3-meter dive (240.20) in her rookie season. Also returning to the pool is junior Cassidy Stotler (New Hartford, CT/Northwest Regional), who placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley, and fourth in the 100-yard butterfly at last year’s conference meet. She’ll once again team up with her sister Kelly Stotler (New Hartford, CT/Northwest), a bronze medalist in the 50-yard freestyle. Senior Abbey Keane (Wethersfield, CT/Wethersfield) returns to campus following a silver medal finish in the 500-yard freestyle and resounding gold medal finish in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:00.19. CCSU earned silver in the 800-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard medley relay events with Cassidy Stotler on each relay squad.
 
Under the tutelage of 13^th-year head coach Colin Shannahan, Wagner returns graduate student Olivia Bishop (Surprise, AZ/Valley Vista), who stood atop the podium at last year’s championship meet in the 100-yard freestyle (50.78), took silver in the 200-yard free and placed top-five in the competitive 50-yard freestyle. Joining Bishop is junior teammate and local product Shamiya Guirre (Staten Island, NY/Curtis), who tied for second in the 100-yard backstroke and placed in the top-five in the 200-yard backstroke. Sophomore Aura Vilarrasa (Montagut, Spain/IES La Garrotxa) was a silver medalist in the 200-yard backstroke, while junior Bree Anderson (Tasman, New Zealand) took third in the 400-yard individual medley and fourth in the 200-yard individual medley. Senior Meliti Efthimiou (Athens, Greece) returns to the diving platforms following a runner-up finish in the 1-meter dive and a fourth-place finish in the 3-meter dive last season. Wagner was a gold medalist in the 400-yard and 800-yard freestyle relay with Vilarrasa and Bishop competing on both winning squads.
 
After Howard’s strong third place finish in their inaugural conference championship meet last February, Nic Askew and the reigning NEC Coaching Staff of the Year welcome back 2023 NEC Rookie of the Meet Zuilda Nwaeze (Columbia, MD), who earned bronze in the 200-yard freestyle relay, and place fifth in the 200-yard butterfly and sixth in the 500-yard freestyle. Joining Nwaeze is senior Michaela Spears (Chicago, IL), a gold medalist in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:17.76) and 200-yard individual medley (2:03.31). Junior Zayle-Elizabeth Thompson (Nassau, Bahamas) touched third in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, and the 200-yard individual medley. Howard won the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:32.63) and placed second in the 200-yard medley relay with Spears and Nwaeze leading the charge in both events.
 
The 2024 NEC Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships will take place from February 20 to February 24 at Spire Institute in Geneva, OH. It marks the third straight year the conference meet will be contested at the premier facility.

About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 43rd season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of nine institutions of higher learning located throughout five states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States including New York (#1), Boston (#9). Hartford/New Haven (#34) and Syracuse (#85). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 24 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 15 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Central Connecticut, FDU, Le Moyne, LIU, Merrimack, Sacred Heart, Saint Francis U, Stonehill and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.