Men’s and Women’s Swimming Compete on Day One of NEISDA Championships
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. – The Elms College men's and women's swim teams completed day one action of the 2012-13 New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA) Championships at Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction, Vt. on Friday, Feb. 8.
After day one, the Elms women's team is in 14th place out 19 teams, while the men's team is in fifth place in the 11-team field. Keene State College is the leader for each gender after day one.
Preliminaries
On the men's side, junior Keegan Goan (Westbrook, Maine) set a new school record in the 100-yard butterfly (53.50) and freshman Ethan Etheridge (Pawtucket, R.I.) clocked a new school mark in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 27.39.
Freshman James Grippo (Longmeadow, Mass.) registered a new school record time of 2:06.47 in the 200-yard backstroke and later set a school record in the lead leg of the 400-yard medley relay (100-yard backstroke) with a time of 57.72.
Grippo led the team of Etheridge, Goan and junior Aaron Starke (Chicopee, Mass.) also set a new school record in the 400-yard medley relay, while the team of Etheridge, Goan, senior Mark Gehring (West Springfield, Mass.) and Starke clocked a school record with a time of 1:30.38 and placed third overall.
For the women, senior Emalee Furtek (Ludlow, Mass.) raced to a new school record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:06.32, while junior Devon DeGrazia (Westport, Mass.) advanced two places in the seedings in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:21.61.
Senior Tessa Dudunake (Northampton, Mass.) clocked a 32.88 in the 50-yard breaststroke to advance to the finals, while the Blazers' 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard medley relay teams each qualified for the finals.
The team of Dudunake, DeGrazia, Furtek and junior Emily Schneider (West Kingston, R.I.) advanced in the 200-yard freestyle relay, while senior Tricia Ruell (Chicopee, Mass.), Dudunake, Furtek and DeGrazia advanced in the 400-yard medley relay.
Finals
In the finals, Goan, Etheridge and Grippo each lowered their school records from the preliminaries. Goan clocked a school record time of 53.26 and finished fourth in the 100-yard butterfly, Etheridge registered a time of 27.23 in the 50-yard breaststroke and finished second in the event, and Grippo lowered his record in the 200-yard backstroke to 2:04.81 and finished ninth in the race.
The 400-yard medley relay team of Grippo, Etheridge, Goan and Starke glided to a new school record of 3:41.45 and finished third – the highest-ever finish for a Blazers' relay team at the NEISDA Championships.
DeGrazia lowered her time in the 500-yard freestyle to 5:21.61 and placed sixth, while Dudunake touched the wall seventh in the 50-yard breaststroke with a mark of 33.10.
Elms returns to the Upper Valley Aquatic Center on Saturday, Feb. 9 with preliminaries beginning at 9:00 a.m.
