Blue Devils Look To Defend Title at NEC Championships

After finishing off the regular season with a home victory over Wagner, the Central Connecticut swimming and diving team will attempt to repeat as Northeast Conference Champions on February 12-14. The three day event will be held at Yale University with preliminaries to begin each morning at 10:00 a.m. and finals starting at 6:00 p.m.

Last season CCSU won 18 of 20 events on their way to 649.5 total points, defeating runner-up St. Francis by 192.5 points. The 2008-09 Blue Devils have a dual meet record of 5-5 and have received 16 NEC Swimmer/Diver of the Week awards. For this weekend's NEC Championship Meet, CCSU holds the top seed in 14 of the 20 events in competition. For all seeding information click here for the NEC Psych Sheet.

Senior captain Erin Crowley is the top seed in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle events. She has been named NEC Swimmer of the Week four times this season and most recently broke the eight year old Jack Suydam Natatorium record in the 200 free on senior day against Wagner, recording a time of 1:52.96. Sophomore Megan McGorry and freshmen Alex Czaplicki and Kristen Malski have also received NEC Swimming honors this season. McGorry earned the honors twice this season and is seeded first in the 400 IM and the 1650 freestyle this weekend. Earlier this year she broke the Suydam Natatorium record in the 1650 on her way to winning the 2000 free against Sacred Heart. Czaplicki and Malski each received NEC accolades once this season. The former is the top seed in the 100 and 200 backstroke, as well as the 200 IM, this weekend, while the latter is seeded first in the 200 breaststroke.

A trio of freshmen will lead the Blue Devils in the diving competition at the NEC Championships. All three student-athletes received NEC Diver of the Week recognition for their performances this season. Mallory Miller has won the award four times, with the most recent honor coming after her performance against Wagner, in which she qualified for the ECAC Championships. Sam Smolicz took home the NEC honor three times, while Madison Vestergaard garnered the accolades once. All three divers should help the Blue Devils repeat as NEC Champions in 2009.

All other information regarding this weekend's Northeast Conference Championships can be found here at the NEC Website.