NEWMAC Championships: Springfield Wins

WELLESLEY, Massachusetts, February 25. WITH a win in the final event of the evening, Springfield College sealed the 2008 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Swimming and Diving Championship. The Pride edged out second-place finisher MIT by six and a half points to win their eight-straight title.

Springfield finished with 707.5 points to MIT's 701. Wheaton College was a close third with 645 points while host Wellesley College took fourth with a score of 487.5.

Leading off the evening session, Nicole O'Keefe (Los Angeles, Calif.) picked up her second win of the weekend with a first-place finish in the 1650 free. Her time of 17:41.52 meets the NCAA B-cut mark while runner-up Kimberly Shadwick (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) of Coast Guard also hit a B-cut time, swimming a 17:44.01.

Next up was the 200-backstroke where Springfield's Kallie Pottle (Brewer, Maine) notched her second individual win of the meet. Her time of 2:07.39 meets the NCAA B-cut mark. Also hitting a B-cut mark, MIT's Amy Jacobi (Cranbury, N.J.) racked up her second individual first-team All-Conference honor with a time of 53.15 in the 100-free.

Taking the title in the 200-breaststroke was Moira Price (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) of Springfield. Her 2:19.32 breaks the NEWMAC record she set in the 2007 Championships and is also an NCAA A-cut time.

Swimming the 200-fly, Marly Pineda (Bosque Farms, N.M.) picked up the first win of the meet for Smith. Her 2:12.72 beat her 2007 Championship time by just under one second.

In three-meter diving, two-time NCAA National Champion Doria Holbrook (Yakima, Wash.) turned in an impressive 593.30-point performance en route to her third NEWMAC title in the event. Her point total currently stands as the top score in the nation and also shatters both school and NEWMAC records.

Going into the final event of the night, the 400-free relay, Springfield held a slim four and a half point margin over MIT. After the Engineers jumped out to an early lead in the event, Price, the anchor of the Pride team, turned in swim of 51.65 second to seal the win for the Springfield foursome, also consisting of Aimee Doe (Haverhill, Mass.), Lianne Nihan (Reading, Mass.) and Pottle. Their final time of 3:34.81 bested their preliminary mark by nearly 17 seconds.

Special thanks to Wellesley for contributing this report.

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