Carroll, Kenney, Caruso Earn Major Awards As Swimming & Diving Claims Second At NEC Championship

The Central Connecticut swimming and diving team scored 837 points at the 2026 NEC Simming & Diving Championship, to finish as the runner-up in the team standings. Howard University won the team title with 856 points. 

The Blue Devils won three gold medals on Friday, giving them six event victories at the championship. 

Kaitlyn Carroll was named the Outstanding Diver for the second consecutive year, after winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. She won both events last season as well. It marks the third time in four seasons that a Blue Devil has earned the outstanding diver honor. 

Addison Kenney was named the Rookie of the Meet, earning silver medals in the 200 IM and 100 backstroke and a bronze in the 200 backstroke. She won gold on the record setting 800 freestyle relay and silveron the medley relays. 

Kim Caruso was named the NEC Diving Coach of the Year, after leading her diving corps to a sweep of the 3-meter medals, the top two spots on the 1-meter and placing four divers in the top five on both boards. 

Wagner finished in third place in the team standings with 407 points, followed by Saint Francis (349) in fourth place. LIU scored 334 points to claim fifth place, with Stonehill (299) and Le Moyne (275) rounding out the team standings. 

DAY THREE RESULTS 

1,650 Freestyle 

• Maggie Rutledge defended her title with a career-best swim of 17:903.45 and won the event by 40 seconds  

• Izzy Vega and Sophia Pincince set the pace during the afternoon heats, dropping times of 17:44.83 and 17:49.22 that ended up being good for third and sixth place 

• Hanna Kretkowski rounded out the Blue Devils effort in the mile with a ninth-place finish at 18:04.20 

200 Backstroke 

• Sophie Milhomens charged home over the back half of the race, leading the Blue Devils to a sweep of the medals, capturing gold in a time of 1:59.14 

• Megan Dunnigan early matcher her on the back-half, to take the silver in 1:59.54 

• Rookie Addison Kenney claimed the bronze medal with a time of 2:01.25 and her classmate Francesca Fusco finished sixth at 2:03.87 

• Freshman Loretta Santora was faster in the consolation final, moving up to 11th place with a swim of 2:07.18, while fellow newcomer Mackenzie Talbot finished 16th in 2:12.86 

100 Freestyle 

• Grace M. Young swam 51.16 in the championship final, finishing fifth 

• Lauryn Cowing placed 11th with a swim of 52.72 in the consolation final 

• Gabby Spaciano (53.75) and Katie Suchowiecki (53.88) finished 22nd and 23rd in the bonus final 

200 Breaststroke 

• Grace Young too the lead on the third 50 of the race and swam to gold, touching at 2:19.74 

• Veronica Okurowski was faster in the final heat as well, touching at 2:24.96 to claim sixth place 

• Gabi Wroblewski finished 13th, going 2:28.38 in the consolation heat 

200 Butterfly  

• Milhomens came back to place fifth, swimming 2:06.72, with Santora placing seventh with a swim of 2:09.09 

• Kyla Behrle (2:10.22) was faster and placed 10th in the consolation heat, at 2:09.46, with Lauren Loard in 11th at 2:11.02, more than two seconds faster than her qualifying swim 

• Jillian Plowucha finished 13th in the event, going 2:12.33 

400 Freestyle Relay 

• The Blue Devils swam to silver in the final event of the meet, going 3:26.17 

• Grace M. Young led off with a 51.21 split and was followed by Dunnigan who went 51.59 

• Cowing split 52.57 on the third leg, before Kenney posted a 50.80 anchor leg 

PRELIM NOTES 

200 Backstroke 

• The Blue Devils qualified four of the top-five finalists in the championship heat, with two qualifying into the consolation heat 

• Kenney is the top qualifier in the event with a swim of 2:00.26 

• Dunnigan (2:01.32) and Milhomens (2:02.00) are second and third in the championship seeding, with Fusco in the fifth spot after a swim of 2:03.02 

• Santora was 12th fastest in the morning with a swim of 2:07.89 and Talbot will swim from lane one in the consolation final, after posting a 2:09.96 

100 Freestyle 

• Young placed herself into the championship final with a swim of 50.89, the fourth fastest swim of the morning 

• Cowing will swim in the consolation final; she went 52.46 Friday morning and is 11th in the preliminary heats 

• Spaciano missed the consolation final by .30 seconds, touching 17th at 53.74 and will be the top-seed in the bonus final, where she is joined by Katie Suchowiecki who is 23rd at 54.06 

• Amelia Cieslik lowered her seed time and went 1:16.90 

200 Breaststroke 

• Young and Veronica Okurowski will both swim in the championship final, after placing fourth and seventh during prelims, with swims of 2:22.51 and 2:25.33 

• Gabi Wroblewski is 11th, the third seed in the consolation final, with a morning time of 2:26.65 

200 Butterfly 

• Five Blue Devils earned evening swims in the final individual race of the championship, with two in the championship heat 

• Milhomens (2:05.63) and Santora (2:07.39) are seeded third and fourth in the championship final  

• Behrle (2:10.22) is the top-sed in the consolation heat, with Plowucha behind her at 2:11.01 and Lord 12th at 2:13.19