Program Records, NCAA Cut Highlight NEWMAC Day Two for Blue Swimmers

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Three program records and an NCAA cut time highlighted Wellesley College on day two of the 2011 NEWMAC Swimming & Diving Championships, hosted by Mount Holyoke.

The Blue hung tight to their fifth place ranking with two days and 13 events finished.  Wellesley's 236 points put them in striking distance of fourth place Wheaton (261.5) and third place Coast Guard (309).  MIT currently leads the field, totaling 614.5 points, ahead of 10-time defending champion Springfield (577.5).  Rounding out the bottom half of the rankings are Clark (195.5), WPI (141), Smith (121), Babson (95) and Mount Holyoke (84).

Once again, Wellesley first-year Keelin Nave recorded both a program best time and an NCAA "B" cut.  Swimming the 100-fly, Nave posted a lifetime best marker of 57.61 to finish third overall.  Her time shattered the previous Wellesley record of 59.38 set in 1998 by Stephanie Christie.

Following a strong performance on day one, sophomore Carolyn Jackson etched her name into the Wellesley record book with a personal best time of 1:08.51 in the 100-breast.  Jackson's seventh place finish surpassed the previous Wellesley record of 1:08.87 set by Lauren Gaffney in 2005.

In the final event of the day, the Blue's 800-free relay team of senior Dana Dutton and first-years Anne Hamilton, Mariam Amirkhanashvili, and Nave surpassed a 21-year old record by swimming a 7:58.15 and finishing in fifth place.  Their time out-performed the 1990 relay team of Deb Twichell, Alisa Shin, Stephanie Lancsek and Kenna Barrett.

Earlier in the meet, Wellesley's 200 medley relay team nearly broke a school record, as sophomore Virginia Hung and first-year Megan Lambert paired with Jackson and Nave to finish in 1:51.08.  Their time was less than a second off of the current Wellesley record (1:50.81) set in 2007, and it earned them a fourth place finish in the event.

In the 400-IM, first-year Hamilton continued her strong swimming with a sixth place finish.  She recorded a 4:45.22 in the prelims and then swam a 4:45.15 in the finals to lock up sixth.  Also in the event, junior Stephanie Welch took 15^th overall, recording a 4:54.49 in the finals, shaving two seconds off of her time from the prelims.

Wellesley's other high scoring event was the 100-fly, as the Blue racked up 28 team points.  Led by Nave's third place finish, the Blue also got scoring performances from Hung who swam a 59.84 to finish ninth overall, first in the "B" final, and Amirkhanashvili who recorded a 1:00.91 in a 14^th place finish.

Rounding out the day's highlights, Dutton swam a 1:58.77 to finish 11^th in the 200-free, while first-year Gabriela Kovacikova finished 14^th in the 100-back in a time of 1:02.85.

The Championship will conclude with seven more events tomorrow. Preliminaries of the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, 400-yard freestyle relay and 1650-yard freestyle will take place beginning at 11:00 a.m. The finals of the three-meter diving event will begin at 1:30 p.m., while finals for the remaining events will begin at 6:30 pm.

2011 NEWMAC Women's Swimming and Diving Championship

1. MIT – 614.5
2. Springfield College – 577.5
3. Coast Guard Academy – 309
4. Wheaton College – 261.5
5. Wellesley College – 236
6. Clark University – 195.5
7. WPI – 141
8. Smith College – 121
9. Babson College – 95
10. Mount Holyoke College – 84

2011 NEWMAC Women's Swimming and Diving All-Conference Teams
(Event Winners Earn First Team All-Conference)

! - NEWMAC Championship record
^ - NEWMAC Open record
@ - NCAA "A" standard
& - NCAA "B" standard