Stonehill's first four-year class in program history, including the first recruiting class were honored before today's dual meet (l-r) Sokolova, Stockwell, Keating, Gangi and Conley (PHOTO BY Craig Myers, '24) |
Rodriguez sweeps distance freestyle events for two of Skyhawks five wins
BROCKTON, Mass. (January 27, 2024) – Stonehill College honored the first four-year class in the women's swimming program's brief history as it hosted Merrimack College for a Senior Day meet at Massasoit Community College's Asiaf Fieldhouse Pool this afternoon.
Stonehill seniors Maddie Conley, Morgan Gangi, Katie Keating and Sydney Stockwell all made up the Skyhawks first recruiting class after the program was added as the College's 22nd varsity sport in September 2019 and are joined by postgrad Nika Sokolova in forming the first four-year class in program history. The five have laid the foundation of a program that made its debut with virtual meets during the pandemic in 2020-21, before transitioning from NCAA Division II to Division I over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons after making its anticipated debut at the 2021 Northeast-10 Conference Championships and will take part in its second Northeast Conference Championships next month.
Stonehill compiled five event wins in the dual, and it was freshman Isabella Rodriguez who led the way by winning both distance freestyle events to account for two of the five Skyhawk wins. She opened with a first-place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle in a team season-best 11:16.86. Sophomore Azia Koser finished third in 11:33.82 to finish off 12 points for the Skyhawks in the 1000. Rodriguez followed that up with another team season-best time in winning the 500-yard freestyle in 5:31.94.
Rodriguez swept the distance events and accounted for two of the Skyhawks five event wins on Satutday posting team team-best times for the 500 and 1000-yd freestyles. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
Koser added a win in the 200-yard butterfly in a team season-best time of 2:17.22, with Keating following in third in a season-best 2:20.62. Stonehill took second through fourth place in the 100-yard butterfly, led by Keating in second at 1:02.69 – only 0.34-seconds behind Merrimack's Cameron Zuliani (1:02.35) in first. Stockwell was third in 1:03.60, while junior Sharlotte Lundell finished fourth in 1:04.01.
Stonehill claimed three of the top four positions in the 100-yard backstroke, led by Stockwell with the win in 1:01.06. Sokolova finished third in 1:02.90, while sophomore Mazy Karuzis placed fourth in 1:04.06. Stockwell and Sokolova later finished second and third, respectively, in the 200-yard backstroke. Stockwell posted a time of 2:13.38, while Sokolova finished in 2:19.38 and Karuzis placed fifth in 2:19.40.
Sophomore Taylor Belanger led Stonehill in the best race of the day, finishing second in the 100-yard breaststroke when she was out-touched at the finish by a mere 0.03-seconds by Merrimack's Emma McCarthy's winning time of 1:09.71 as Belanger clocked in at 1:09.74. Junior Jami Hepburn placed fourth in 1:15.35 and Gangi finished in 1:17.51 for sixth place.
Freshman Grace Idowu touched second in another tight battle for the win in the 50-yard freestyle, clocking in at 25.75-seconds – just 0.27-seconds behind Merrimack's Kendra Daily (25.48). Idowu also finished second in the 100-yard freestyle in 56.39-seconds.
Stonehill finished the day strong, taking first and third in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Skyhawks A-relay of Sokolova, Idowu, and sophomores Isabel Nelson and Kristy Barry won in 3:50.69 as Sokolova led with a season-best 57.53-second opening leg, followed by a 56.59-second split by Idowu, before Nelson finished the third leg in 58.22-seconds and then Barry completed the anchor leg in 58.35. Stonehill's B-relay of junior Julie Mastroianni, Karuzis, Lundell and Rodriguez finished third in 4:02.56.
Koser clocked in a team season-best time in winning the 200-yard butterfly (PHOTO BY Craig Myers, '24) |
Merrimack capped the day with a 145-116 dual meet victory behind nine event wins in the meet. The Warriors started the day by winning the 400-yard medley relay in 4:06.55. Stonehill's A-relay of Stockwell, Hepburn, Idowu and Barry finished second in 4:09.12. Stockwell swam the opening backstroke leg in 1:01.06, followed by Hepburn with a 1:11.81 breaststroke leg, before Idowu swam the butterfly leg in 1:00.75 and then Barry completed the freestyle anchor leg in 55.50-seconds.
More Results
- Barry finished second in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:06.16, while Conley placed fifth in 2:08.97 and Mastroianni finished sixth in 2:09.83.
- Barry was also second in the 400-yard individual medley relay with her time of 4:53.16, while Koser was third in 5:08.75.
- Hepburn took second in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:38.21, with Conley fourth in 2:42.70 and Gangi sixth in 3:07.97.
- Nelson and Belanger finished fifth and sixth, respectively for both the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events. Nelson finished the 50-free in 27.08-seconds, while Belanger finished in 27.61, while Nelson posted a time of 58.92-seconds in the 100, followed by Belanger in 1:04.83.
- Mastroianni finished fifth in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:49.52.
- Lundell placed sixth in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:32.41.
Up Next
Stonehill is now off for the next three weeks before it competed at its second Northeast Conference Championships, hosted by Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio, February 20-25. Merrimack has one more tune-up before the NEC Championships next Saturday, February 3, hosting Sacred Heart University at Andover YMCA.
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