NEC Top 12 Games of 2012: #8

NEC Top 12 Games of 2012:

#8 – SWIM: Day Four of the NEC Swimming Championships (SFU 748-747) – 2/25/12

Over the last few Summer Olympics there have been some thrilling and awe-inspiring performances in the pool that have captivated America. The Northeast Conference got its own taste of aquatic suspense with the finish of the 2012 NEC Swimming Championships. St. Francis and Central Connecticut State had been responsible for taking home the previous four NEC Swimming Championships, with CCSU claiming the top prize in 2008 and 2009, before falling to second next to St. Francis in 2010 and 2011. After three days of competition in the 2012 Championships from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, Central led their swimming rivals from Loretto by just seven points, 488-481. The ensuing battle over the next seven events between Central, trying to regain the top spot in the NEC, and St. Francis, looking for a three-peat in the pool, led to this event falling at #9 on the Top 12 NEC Games of 2012 list.

Championship Saturday started out with St. Francis making up ground in the grueling 1650 free, with sophomore Megan Collins taking home gold, with a time of 16:55.89. Collins bested her own personal time by 7.4 seconds, and finished 15 seconds ahead of her next closest challenger, Taylor Friedman of Central. The Blue Devils managed to answer in the following event, finishing ahead on the podium in the 200 backstroke, with Alex Czaplicki claiming the silver and Red Flash swimmer Becky Peer taking bronze.

Event 16 was up next, with Red Flash junior Alicia Ford looking to defend her title in the 100 free. The race saw the top five swimmers finish within 1.36 seconds of each other. Ford just beat Central’s Helene Neuhaus to the wall by 0.88 to claim her second straight 100 free title and pick up valuable points for SFU in the overall meet score. St. Francis also took gold in the 200 breaststroke, with Elise Lofgren placing first for the second straight season at a time of 2:16.56, just .56 shy of her event record set in 2011.

The turning point of the championship meet was in the second to last event of the day, the 200 butterfly. Red Flash sophomore Libby Francis picked up silver and 55 points for her team, while the Blue Devils were held off the podium. The swing allowed St. Francis to overtake Central for first time since the first day of the competition with a 716-713 advantage.

All that remained was one final event, a 400 yard freestyle relay to decide the 2012 NEC Swimming Championship. CCSU sent out Alex Czaplicki, Allison Rasile, Neuhaus, and Taylor Friedmann while SFU turned to Lofgren, Jenny Demjanenko, Meghan Cotugno, and Ford. Bryant took the gold, with an event record time of 3:26.95. The Blue Devils placed second at 3:27.40, while the Red Flash came in third at 3:28.08, 2.6 seconds ahead of fourth place Mount St. Mary’s. The top three finishers all finished ahead of the event record set last season by St. Francis. The third place finish for SFU completed the comeback and clinched a third straight swimming championship for St. Francis, by the slimmest of margins, 748 to 747. Over the course of the meet, seven NEC swimming records were broken, four by St. Francis swimmers.

 

 

*photos from @necswimming Twitter page and SFU athletics website


Day 4 Results

Day 4 Recap

St. Francis Meet Recap

 

Previous Top 12 NEC Games of 2012:

#9 - BASE: Wagner at Fairleigh Dickinson (FDU 4-3, 12 innings) – 4/7/12

#10 - WSOC: LIU-Brooklyn vs. St. Francis, 2012 NEC Women’s Soccer Final (LIU 1-0) – 11/4/12

#11 – WVB: Robert Morris at Sacred Heart (SHU 3-2) – 10/13/12

#12 (tie) – WBB: Central Connecticut State at St. Francis (SFU 86-83 2OT) – 2/20/12

#12 (tie) – WBB: LIU-Brooklyn at Monmouth (MU 55-54) – 2/25/12