Northeast-10 Conference Day Two

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, December 1. SENIOR Dan Vitagliano won the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly as the Southern Connecticut State University men's swimming and diving team lengthened its lead during the second day of competition at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships at Hutchinson Natatorium. The Owls have amassed 538 points, good for a 163-point lead over second place Le Moyne with one day remaining.

Vitagliano led the Owls to a one-two finish in the 200-yard freestyle as he took first place in a time of 1:42.46. Freshman Aaron Rocheleau finished second as he swam a 1:44.88.

Vitagliano would later break a Northeast-10 Conference record and post an NCAA "B" Cut qualifying time in the 100-yard butterfly. Vitagliano took first place in 50.60 seconds to break the conference record by over one second.

SCSU racked up points at the end of the night by finishing second, fourth and sixth in the three-meter diving event. Senior Jason Flores took second with a score of 459.45. Juniors Andrew Puco and Ryan Cutler took second and third with scores of 369.35 and 313.80, respectively.

As for the women, Sophomore Kristen Frost set a school record in the 200-yard freestyle on Saturday night as the Southern Connecticut State University women's swimming and diving team lengthened its lead during the second day of competition. The Owls won six events on the day and have amassed 538 points, good for 161-point lead over second place Bentley with one day remaining.

Frost made a splash early in the evening when she posted a time of 1:50.47 to win the 200-yard freestyle. The time broke the Northeast-10 record by 4.48 seconds and also set a new school record for SCSU, bettering Amy Browning's 2005 time by over two seconds. In addition, Frost bettered her own NCAA Division II top time for the season. Frost would break another Northeast-10 Conference record later in the night by taking first place in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 57.35 seconds.

The Owls would break two other Northeast-10 records on the evening. In the 50-yard freestyle, junior Rachel Heyer swam a time of 24.94 seconds to take first place. Later, SCSU's 200-yard freestyle relay team of Heyer, senior Megan Ladner, sophomore Katie Meleg and Frost would win with a time of 1:38.81 to break a conference record which was already held by SCSU.

Prior to the relay, Meleg picked up an individual victory in the 200-yard breaststroke when she posted an NCAA "B" Cut qualifying time of 2:09.99.

Also winning their race on Saturday was SCSU's "B" team in the 400-yard medley relay. Freshman Sandy Kinne, senior Caitlin Crowley, sophomore Emily Sundel and freshman Jaclyn Renzoni swam a time of 4:17.94 to win the heat.

Senior Ali Bronson won the one-meter diving event with a score of 358.30.

Special thanks to Southern Connecticut for contributing this report.

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