Sokolova	Karuzis
Koser	Barry

Skyhawks 800-yard freestyle relay posts season-best time in opening event

GENEVA, Ohio (February 20, 2024) – Stonehill College opened its second Northeast Conference Swimming and Diving Championship with a season-best performance as the 2024 Championships got underway with the opening event at Spire Institute tonight.

Stonehill's 800-yard freestyle relay clocked in with a season-best time of 8:01.37 in placing ninth in the event. Swimming the event for the Skyhawks that trimmed 5.1-seconds off its previous best were postgrad Nika Sokolova and sophomores Mazy Karuzis, Azia Koser and Kristy Barry. The relay finished within 1.3-seconds of the program record of 7:59.00 set at last year's NEC Championship, with Sokolova swimming the lead leg in 2:00.62, before Karuzis completed the second leg in 2:02.18 and then Koser finished the third leg in 2:01.40, with Barry finishing the anchor leg in 1:57.17.

Stonehill collected 40 points for its finish in the opening event of the Championships, while Wagner College leads with 64 after winning the relay in 7:22.65 – nearly five full seconds ahead of second-place Central Connecticut State University (7:27.38).

More Results

• Stonehill's B-relay of seniors Katie Keating and Maddie Conley, junior Julie Mastroianni and freshman Isabella Rodriguez also clocked a season-best time, clocking in at 8:17.42 – 8.09-seconds faster than the B-relay's previous best.

Up Next

The NEC Swimming and Diving Championships ramps up in earnest at Spire Institute with day two on Wednesday with prelims in the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley relay and 50-yard freestyle starting at 10 a.m. Finals for those events, plus the 200-yard medley relay will start at 6 p.m. Broadcast coverage of the 2024 NEC Championships is available via 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. 

• Mastroianni and Rodriguez are entered in the 500-yard freestyle.
• Barry is ranked 15^th (2:10.16) in the Conference for the 200-yard individual medley after qualifying for the C-Final last year to lead three Skyhawk entries tomorrow, including senior Morgan Gangi and junior Sharlotte Lundell
  
• Freshman Grace Idowu is Stonehill's top-ranked entry for the 50-yard freestyle (24.72) to lead six Stonehill entries, including Gangi, Keating, junior Jami Hepburn and sophomores Isabel Nelson and Taylor Belanger
  
• Stonehill's 200-yard medley relay is its top-ranked relay entering the Championships at No. 6 with a school-record time of 1:48.48.

Day Two Heat Sheet

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