Dartmouth, Ma. - Sophomore Hope Walsh led the Keene State women's swimming & diving team to it's tenth straight Little East Conference Championship on Saturday. 

Walsh started off the day by dominating the 1,650 freestyle in 17:39.23. This is the fastest mile of Walsh's collegiate career, and also broke the UMASS-Dartmouth pool record set previously by KSC alumnus Jackie Foster. She beat the next closest competitor by over one minute.

She then continued her success by winning the 200 backstroke in 2:11.93 and then setting a new LEC record in the 500 free. Her time of 5:11.60 is a season-best and broke the old record set by KSC's Caitlyn Shea in 2013. 

Senior Katherine Brady also had a breakout swim Saturday after finishing first in the 200 butterfly. Her time of 2:10.19 broke the LEC record set by alumus Maureen O'Leary in 2011. She was also victorious in the 100 butterfly, and finished third in the 200 IM (2:18.08) behind teammates Amber Long (2:13.17) and Madison Sestak (2:17.96).

Long and Sestak each added a pair of second-place finishes to their day as well. Sestak was the runner-up in the 100 (1:10.30) and 200 (2:30.82) breaststroke, while Long did the same in the 200 freestyle (1:58.11) and 200 butterfly (2:13.21). 

Reigning LEC Swimmer of the Year Alison Bartlett collected three individual wins of her own in the sprint freestyle events. She won the 50 (23.91), 100 (54.38) and 200 (1:57.80) freestyles.

Classmate Corrina Nickerson took both of the breaststroke titles. This was Nickerson's fourth-straight LEC title in the 200 breaststroke. She is one of three swimmers in Keene State swimming & diving history to win four-straight LEC titles. Kristine Trutor won both the 100 and 200 backstroke from 2006-2009, and O'Leary was victorious in the 200 fly from 2008-2011. She also won the 100 distance in 1:08.68.

Senior Brianna Laliberte also had an impressive day for the Owls. She repeated as the 100 backstroke champion in 1:00.54. She also played a huge role on both relays for the Owls. She teammed up with Nickerson, Long, and Bartlett to win the 200 medley in 1:49.79 and Sestak, Margaret Dean and Olivia Gallugi to win the 400 free in 3:46.09.

The Owls won the meet with a total of 630 points. Eastern Connecticut State University placed second followed by UMASS-Dartmouth in third. 

The Owls will have a weekend off from competition before racing at the NEISDA Championships at URI Feb. 12-14.