The Blazers Competed in The NEISDA Swimming Championships
Kingston, RI – The Elms College swim team competed at the NEISDA Championship meet.
THE BASICS:
SCORE:
1. Elms College Women's Team 14th
2. Elms College Men's Team 12th
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Elms College competed at the NEISDA championship meet at the University of Rode Island Natatorium. The Blazers started off strong the first day of finals in the 50-yard freestyle with Ashley Cronkhite (Lewiston, ME). Cronkhite finished in 30th at finals while posting a new personal best time in the event. Senior Nick Taylor (Turners Falls, MA) followed up Cronkhite's personal best with a 19th place finish during finals of the 100-yard butterfly. Taylor was milliseconds away from posting a personal best but still dropped 3 seconds from his previous season-best.
During the second day of finals, Cronkite had a strong swim in the 200-yard freestyle placing in the top 20. During the 200 free, Cronkhite was able to post a season-best time. Taylor was entered into the 50-yard butterfly and battled it out to the very end. During prelims, Taylor slashed his best time and ended up tieing with an opponent for 16th place. This led Taylor and his opponent to compete in a swim-off for the last spot in the B heat final. In this head-to-head race, Taylor was bested by his opponent in a neck and neck race.
During the final day of the meet Cronkhite competed in the 100-yard freestyle and the 50-yard backstroke which were back-to-back. Cronkhite posted an impressive season-best time in the 100-yard freestyle while placing in the top 30. With only a 10-minute break Cronkhite swam with Blazer pride in the 50-yard backstroke posting a near season-best and placing 31st. Taylor competed in the 50-yard backstroke and smashed his season-best by 3 full seconds and besting his personal best by nearly half of a second. During the 50-yard backstroke Taylor finished 17th overall.
FROM THE DESK OF COACH WALKER:
"It is great to compete at the NEISDA Championships. We swam fast and had a great time. Overall both swimmers got at least one personal best and all went season bests in all but one event. As a first-year college coach, there is always going to be nerves going into the last championship meet, but I was thrilled with our results. Going from coaching a very competitive club team to coaching college I knew that there was going to be a different set of challenges and I would have to reshape my training plans and coaching style. I was pleased to see that my training plan set the team up to not only swim fast but also enjoy the day-to-day practice grind. The team exceeded our time goals and is very excited for what the 2022/23 season has in store. I am looking forward to our recruits joining our team and seeing how high we can fly in next season and the seasons to come. Go Blazers!"
UP NEXT:
- Stay tuned for team updates and next season's schedule.
STAY CONNECTED:
- For the latest on Elms College Athletics, follow the Blazers via social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
