Skyhawks picked eighth in NEC preseason poll, ready for second NEC Championships appearance Tuesday-Saturday at SPIRE Institute

NEC Championships Week Preview

NEC Swimming & Diving Championships Central

Stockwell is seeded fourth in the 100-yard backstroke and also ranked in the Top 25 for the 200-back and 100-yard butterfly (PHOTO BY Cayla Fernandes)

GENEVA, Ohio (February 19, 2024) – The Stonehill College women's swimming team is looking to make some noise as it gets ready to return for its second appearance at the Northeast Conference Swimming & Diving Championships, starting Tuesday and running through Saturday night, February 24, at Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

All sessions of the 2024 NEC Men's & Women's Swimming and Diving Championships will be broadcast live on NEC Front Row. The broadcast can be accessed via stonehillskyhawks.com through its NEC Front Row portal (necfrontrow.com/schools/SC) or through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku via the NEC On the Run App. Live results links are also available via stonehillskyhawks.com.

Stonehill, which made its NEC Championships debut with a ninth place team finish with 120 points at the 2023 Championships at Spire, is competing at just its third conference championship event overall, after finishing seventh in its debut at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships in 2022 prior to the College starting its transition to NCAA Division I as members of the NEC. The Skyhawks were picked eighth in the NEC's preseason coaches' poll back in late September, with reigning champions Central Connecticut State University picked to repeat and claim its seventh title overall. Wagner College, last year's runner-up, is picked second, Howard University third and LIU fourth, with Saint Francis University rounding out the predicted top five. Sacred Heart University (6^th), Merrimack College (7^th), Stonehill and Le Moyne College (9^th) round out the preseason poll.

Stonehill is led by the first four-year class in the program's brief history after being added as the College's 22^nd varsity sport in 2020-21 – postgrad Nika Sokolova and seniors Maddie Conley, Morgan Gangi, Katie Keating and Sydney Stockwell. The Skyhawks will bring seven top ten pre-championship rankings into Spire this week, with 14 top 20 ranked times.

Hepburn is ranked No. 9 for the 100-breaststroke and 11th in the 200-breaststroke (PHOTO BY Cayla Fernandes)

Stockwell has scored 55 championship points for Stonehill combined in the NE10 and NEC Championships over the last two years, including 13 points with her two B-Finals at the 2023 NEC Championships. She enters the week ranked in the top 25 for three individual events, including fourth for the 100-yard backstroke (57.15). Stockwell is enjoying a strong finish to her collegiate career, having posted 11 individual wins this season, including four in the 100-yard backstroke and another three in the 200-back. She has 20 top three finishes and 21 top fives and has also been a part of four relay wins this season.

Junior Jami Hepburn has scored 42 career championship points, including seven for her 10^th place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.79) at last year's NEC Championships after winning the event at the 2022 NE10 Championships. Conley, Keating, Sokolova, juniors Sharlotte Lundell and Julie Mastroianni, along with sophomores Taylor Belanger, Mazy Karuzis have also all earned championship points for the Skyhawks over the course of their careers.

Freshman Grace Idowu already owns two school-records in sprint freestyle events as well as the 50-yard butterfly (26.92), while classmate Isabella Rodriguez has impressed in the distance events.

Tuesday, February 20 – NEC Championships Day One

Prelims – Noon
Stonehill Entries
None

Finals – 6 PM
Stonehill Entries
800-yard freestyle relay

• The 2024 NEC Championship get underway with men's diving in the afternoon, and finals in the evening, but the women's championship starts with the 800-yard freestyle relay during the evening session starting at 6 p.m. The Skyhawks are ranked eighth in the event with their season-best time of 8:06.47 set at Rhode Island's Harold Anderson Invitational in November.

Wednesday, February 21 – NEC Championships Day Two

Prelims – 10 AM
Stonehill Entries
500-yard Freestyle
200-yard Individual Medley Relay
50-yard freestyle

Finals – 6 PM
Stonehill Entries
500-yard Freestyle*
200-yard Individual Medley Relay*
50-yard freestyle*
200-yard medley relay
*pending prelim results

• Barry is ranked in the top 20 for both the 200-yard and 400-yard individual medley relays (PHOTO BY Cayla Fernades)

  Sophomore Kristy Barry is Stonehill's top-seeded entry on day two of the Championships, ranked 15^th in the 200-yard individual medley relay with her school-record time of 2:10.16 at the Harold Anderson Invite. She made the C-Final at the 2023 Championships and finished 22^nd overall in 2:11.28.
• Idowu is the Skyhawks top-seed in for the 50-yard freestyle with her school-record time of 24.72-seconds at Niagara University in November.
• Sophomore Azia Koser and Rodriguez have posted Stonehill's top times in the 500-yard freestyle this season. Koser clocked in at 5:32.35 at URI's Harold Anderson Invitational, while Rodriguez posted a time of 5:37.73 at Siena College in January. Koser finished 37^th at the 2023 Championships in 5:30.58.
• Stonehill's 200-yard medley relay is its top-ranked relay entering the championships at No. 6 with its school-record time of 1:48.48 at Niagara after finishing eighth at the 2023 NEC Championships (1:48.51) and finishing fourth at the 2022 NE10 Championships in 1:50.08.

Thursday, February 22 – NEC Championships Day Three

Prelims – 10 AM
Stonehill Entries
400-yard Individual Medley Relay
100-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle

Finals – 6 PM
Stonehill Entries
400-yard Individual Medley Relay*
100-yard Butterfly*
200-yard Freestyle*
200-yard Freestyle Relay
*pending prelim results

• Barry enters day three of the NEC Championships again as Stonehill's top-ranked entry at No. 17 in the 400-yard individual medley relay with her school-record time of 4:42.91 at the Harold Anderson Invitational. She also made the C-Final for this event last year, placing 22^nd overall (4:43.56).
• Stockwell has posted the 27^th-ranked time in the 100-yard butterfly of 59.78-seconds at Niagara. She made the C-Final for this event last year and finished 22^nd overall in 59.39-seconds.
• Barry also owns Stonehill's top time in the 200-yard freestyle in a school-record 1:58.34 at the Harold Anderson Invite.
• Stonehill's 200-yard freestyle relay is ranked seventh in the NEC with a time of 1:39.26 at URI.

Friday, February 23 – NEC Championships Day Four

Prelims – 10 AM
Stonehill Entries
200-yard Butterfly
100-yard Backstroke
100-yard Breaststroke

Finals – 6 PM

Belanger is ranked 11th in the 100-yard breaststroke (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard)

Stonehill Entries
200-yard Butterfly*
100-yard Backstroke*
100-yard Breaststroke*
400-yard Medley Relay
*pending prelim results

• Stockwell enters the Championship with Stonehill's best chance at the first podium at an NEC Championship, having posted the No. 4-ranked time in the 100-yard backstroke with a school-record 57.15-seconds at the Harold Anderson Invitational. She made the B-Final for the event at the 2023 NEC Championships and finished 11^th overall (58.17) after finishing third at the 2022 NE10 Championships (58.60).
• Stonehill could have as many as three qualify for finals in the 100-yard backstroke with Sokolova ranked No. 15 (58.79) and Idowu 21^st (59.24).
• Hepburn leads three Stonehill swimmers ranked in the top 25 for the 100-yard breaststroke at No. 9 with her time of 1:06.30 at the Harold Anderson Invite. She made the B-Final of the 2022 Championships and finished 10^th in a school-record 1:05.79 after capturing the first individual championship and podium finish in program history by winning the event at the 2022 NE10 Championships (1:06.33).
• Belanger is ranked 11^th in the 100-yard breaststroke with her time of 1:06.45 at URI, while Barry is No. 22 at 1:08.65 (URI). Belanger made the B-Final for the event in 2023, finishing 16^th (1:08.39).
• Stonehill's 400-yard freestyle relay is ranked eighth in the NEC heading into the championships with a time of 3:40.68 at URI. The relay finished ninth last year in a school-record 3:39.36.

Saturday, February 24 – NEC Championships Day Five

Prelims – 10 AM
Stonehill Entries
200-yard Backstroke
100-yard Freestyle
200-yard Breaststroke
1650-yard Freestyle**

Sokolova aims to score in both backstroke events in her final Championship meet (PHOTO BY Cayla Fernandes)

Finals – 6 PM
Stonehill Entries
1650-yard Freestyle – A Final
200-yard Backstroke*
100-yard Freestyle*
200-yard Breaststroke*
Senior Recognition
400-yard Freestyle Relay
*pending prelim results
**All but fastest heats of 1650 will be backed up from the start of finals warmup