Cambridge, MA - The Keene State swimming and diving teams are having a successful weekend at the MIT Winter Invitational being held Dec. 3-5.
On day one, Cole Hogg started off the night for the Owls by racing to an NCAA "B" cut in the 200 butterfly in a time trial. Later on, he anchored the 800 freestyle in route to another NCAA "B" cut. Hogg was joined by Ryan Boraski, Chris Barriss and Graham Lott to make the cut.
Alison Bartlett also found success as a part of the 800 free relay. She led off her team of Amber Long, Brianna Laliberte and Hope Walsh in 1:53.11, setting a new school record in the process. The previous record stands from 2010 and was held by Jackie Foster with a time of 1:54.55.
For Bartlett, however, this was just the beginning. On Saturday morning, she nearly reached her lifetime best time in the 50 free coming in at 23.11. This swim was .08 seconds off of her All-American swim from NCAAs last year.
In the finals, she lowered her time to 22.92, and is currently the only Division III female swimmer in the country to break the 23 second barrier.
In the men's 50 free, senior Gregory Youngstrom broke his own school record finishing in 20.39 seconds. This is also an NCAA "B" cut. Youngstrom was a part of the 200 freestyle relay with Barriss, Hogg and Boraski which broke the school record by .01 seconds and achieved another NCAA "B" cut.
In similar fashion, the 400 medley relay team of Barriss, Ethan Etheridge, Hogg and Boraski broke the school record by .01 seconds and also achieved a "B" cut. Etheridge also swam past the "B" cut in the indivudal 100 breast, as did Boraksi in the 50 and 200 free.
On the diving board, senior Cody Fitzgerald qualified for the NCAA Regional qualifier on one-meter.
The Owls have one more day of competition at MIT before heading home for break and then to training trip in Boca Raton, Florida. The men are currently in fourth place, while the women are in sixth.
