Stockwell swam in her third Championship final of the week and broke her own school-record in the 200-yd backstroke today (PHOTO BY Brian Fisher/NEC) |
Stockwell competes in third Championship Final, while Skyhawks wrap up seventh place team finish
GENEVA, Ohio (February 24, 2024) – Stonehill College wrapped up a program-best week at the 2024 Northeast Conference Swimming & Diving Championships with five more individual finals and three more program-record times on the final day at Spire Institute on Saturday.
Senior Sydney Stockwell qualified for her third individual Championship final of the week, having made program history as the first to qualify for such at the NEC Championships. She posted a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:04.90 that scored Stonehill 24 points to finish the week with 74.5 points towards Stonehill's program-best total of 383.5 points for the highest team finish of seventh. Stockwell was also part of four relays that produced another 178 points and added another program record to her week. She broke her previous mark of 2:06.59 set at the 2023 NEC Championships here at Spire when she qualified fifth in the prelims this morning in 2:03.66.
Junior Jami Hepburn qualified for a B-Final for the second-straight day, placing 16th overall in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:29.21. She qualified 16th in the morning prelims with a time of 2:27.03. Sophomore Kristy Barry and senior Maddie Conley both qualified for the C-Final in the event. Barry placed 20th in her third individual final of the week in 2:29.28 after qualifying 19th overall in the prelims in a season-best 2:28.15. Conley capped her four-year career by reaching her first individual final, placing 24th overall in 2:35.58 after qualifying in a season-best 2:33.93 this morning.
Idowu broke her own 100-yd freestyle record and qualified for the C-Final (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
Freshman Grace Idowu qualified for the C-Final in the 100-yard freestyle and twice bested her own school-record in the process. She finished second in the final and placed 18th overall in a school-record 53.31-seconds – getting out-touched at the wall by LIU's Summer Wagner by a mere 0.06-seconds. Idowu qualified 17th overall in the prelims, first surpassing her previous school mark of 54.33-seconds with her time of 53.56 this morning.
Stonehill wrapped up the week with a seventh-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay in a school-record 3:35.73. Swimming the relay that bested the previous school record of 3:39.36 set at the 2023 NEC Championships here by nearly four seconds were Idowu, Stockwell, Barry and postgrad Nika Sokolova. Idowu swam the lead leg in 54.16-seconds, before Stockwell completed the second leg in 53.36 and then Sokolova followed with a 55.02-second split before Barry finished the anchor leg in 53.19.
Stonehill, which compiled 120 points at its debut in the NEC Championships last year, more than tripled that sum in year two at the Championships. The Skyhawks finished ahead of Merrimack College (312) and Le Moyne College (261) after being picked to finish eighth by the Conference's head coaches in the preseason. Stonehill saw its swimmers qualify for 14 finals for the week, including Stockwell's three Championship finals. Central Connecticut State University wrapped up its second-straight NEC Championship by a meet record margin, totaling 1,473.5 points to outdistance the field by 316.5. Howard University was second (1,157) and Wagner College third (1,098.5).
Hepburn made her second B-final of the week, finishing 16th in the 200-yd breaststroke (PHOTO BY Brian Fisher/NEC) |
More Results
- Sophomore Mazy Karuzis narrowly missed qualifying for her second backstroke final of the week, placing 26th in the prelims in a personal-best 2:10.33 – a mere 0.06 shy of a spot in the C-Final. Sokolova placed 30th in a season-best 2:12.16.
- Sophomore Azia Koser placed 29th in the 1650-yard freestyle in a season-best time of 18:58.14.
- Senior Katie Keating placed 40th in the 100-yard freestyle in a season-best 56.67-seconds, followed by sophomore Isabel Nelson in 41st with a personal-best time of 56.79, freshman Isabella Rodriguez in 43rd (57.63), junior Julie Mastroianni in 44th (season-best 57.87) and sophomore Taylor Belanger in 47th (59.03).
- Stonehill's B-relay of seniors Morgan Gangi, Keating and Conley, along with Mastroianni turned in a time of 3:53.52 in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Up Next
Stonehill wraps up the fourth season in the program's young history with the NEC Championships after being added as the College's 22nd varsity sport in 2019.
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