Southern Connecticut State Sweeps Northeast-10 Championships

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, February 3. SOUTHERN Connecticut State University claimed both the women's and men's 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Championships on Saturday night, marking the ninth straight Northeast-10 title for the So. Connecticut women, while the men's team has now won 10 conference crowns in an 11-year span.

Editor's Note: The women's team has won 10 consecutive years and the men's team has won 9 years in total.

For the complete women's and men's team standings, please see below.

So. Connecticut senior Amanda Thomas was named the Northeast-10 Championship Women's Most Valuable Swimmer after setting a new conference and pool record in the women's 200 back on Saturday, finishing with a time of 2:00.58. It was her second record setting performance of the three-day meet, as she also set the new Northeast-10 benchmark in the 400 IM (4:20.73) on Friday night.

It was Thomas' fourth Most Valuable Swimmer honor in as many years.

So. Connecticut sophomore Raymond Cswerko was named the Men's Most Valuable Swimmer after setting a new Northeast-10 record in the 100 breaststroke on Friday with a time of 55.56. Cswerko was also part of the winning 200 freestyle relay (1:24.91) that broke the conference record on Thursday, and then on Saturday night he took first in the men's 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:02.57.

Bentley University freshman Nicola Mancini (pictured below) was named the Women's Most Valuable Diver after winning both the women's 1- and 3-meter diving competitions. She posted a score of 410.05 in the 3-meter on Saturday afternoon after setting a new conference and pool record (431.70) in the 1-meter on Thursday. Her 1-meter performance was also good for an NCAA cut.

Pace University freshman Jenny Palladino (414.30), Bentley senior Shelly D'Aleo (407.25) and So. Connecticut sophomore Jessica Renzo (393.90) all made NCAA A cuts in the 1-meter as well.

Adelphi University's Jalen Jennings and Le Moyne College's Josh Byrne were named Men's Co-Most Valuable Divers of the Meet, as the two freshmen both had a first-place and a runner-up finish in the meet's two diving events.

Jennings posted an NCAA A cut of 462.50 to win the 1-meter on Friday, ousting Byrne by a mere 1.35 points, although Byrne's score of 461.15 was also good an NCAA A cut.

Byrne won the 1-meter competition on Thursday with a score of 439.35, while Jennings finished second (433.60) in the event.

In the final women's event of the 2013 Northeast-10 Championship on Saturday night, Bentley nearly set a new conference record in the 400 freestyle relay as Monika Drogosz, Jessica Hodsdon, Danielle Hellstern and Nadine Edwards finished first in 3:35.52. The time was just 0.34 seconds short of the Northeast-10 mark (3:35.28, So. Connecticut '12). In the process, the Falcons narrowly defeated the So. Connecticut foursome of Elizabeth Hess, Christina Lavery, Anna Pleban and Thomas (3:35.95) in the heat.

Another breathtaking 400 freestyle relay followed to close out the annual meet, as the Pace men (3:08.66) defeated So. Connecticut (3:09.09) by less than half a second. The mark by the Pace foursome of Michael Fridman, Matthew McCann, Kevin Dickson and Dogus Akay came close to the conference record of 3:07.81, set by So. Connecticut last year.

The Setters defeated the quartet of Jared Thurston, Louis Geist, Dan Elliot and Cswerko in the heat.

Geist, a freshman, finished first in the men's 1650 earlier on Saturday with a time of 15:59.06, a performance that came within three seconds of the conference record (15:56.19).

In the women's 1650 free, So. Connecticut senior Meghan Fay won with a time of 17:53.58.

In the men's 200 back, Pace's Akay came close to the Northeast-10 record, finishing a mere .002 short of the mark as he took first place with a time of 1:51.79.

So. Connecticut junior Anna Pleban finished first in the women's 100 free (53.19), while Bentley freshman Sebastian Bury was the winner in the men's 100 free (47.07).

In the women's 200 breast, Saint Rose senior Naomi Woodcock won with a time of 2:21.32.

In the 200 fly, Assumption junior Monique Haney took the women's event (2:06.25), while Le Moyne freshman Daniel Tarbrake took the men's A heat in 1:54.58.

The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 16 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,000 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.

Final Women's Standings
1. So. Connecticut — 907
2. Bentley — 721
3. Assumption — 666
4. Saint Rose — 425
5. Le Moyne — 353
6. Pace — 329
7. Adelphi — 238
8. Saint Michael's 172

Final Men's Standings
1. So. Connecticut — 801
2. Bentley — 655
3. Le Moyne — 621
4. Saint Rose — 580
5. Pace — 417
6. Adelphi — 305
7. Saint Michael's — 181

Senior Ceremony

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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