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WELLESLEY, Mass.-- February 24, 2008 – 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 Team Championship.
The Pride edged out second-place finisher MIT by a miniscule six and a half points to
capture its eighth-straight title. The meet literally came down to the final turn of the final event of the third and final day.
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 NEWMAC 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 a swim of 51.65 seconds 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.
Several NEWMAC athletes will now await official NCAA Championship
selections to be announced on Friday, February 29th. The 2008 NCAA
Division III Championships will be held March 13-15 at Miami University in
Oxford, Ohio.
Team Standings
1. Springfield 707.5
2. MIT 701
3. Wheaton 645
4. Wellesley 487.5
5. Coast Guard 343
6. Smith 283
7. Babson 221
8. Clark 184
9. Mount Holyoke 169
10. WPI 134
published: 02/24/2008
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