The Keene State Owls are competing at the NEISDA Championships this weekend at the University of Rhode Island. After one day of competition, the women are in second place with 531 points and the men are in first place with 329 points.
Despite the women being behind by 20 points, there were many outstanding performances of the day. Senior Alison Bartlett kicked off the morning by swimming a 23.10 in the 50 freestyle. While this is .18 off her best from December, it was good enough to break the pool record of 23.13 set by eight-time Olympic gold medalist Jenny Thompson in 1989. Both Bartlett and Thompson are New Hampshire natives.
A few hours later, Bartlett teamed up with classmates Olivia Gallugi and Brianna Laliberte and sophomore Margaret Dean to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:36.57. Their efforts set a new school record and bested the competition by 3.8 seconds.
In the women's 100 butterfly, senior Katherine Brady continued her recent success by winning the event in 58.68. This was good enough to edge out teammate Dean who swam to second place in 58.94. Madison Sestak rounded out the Owls finishing fourth in 59.77.
Sophomore Hope Walsh helped the Owls by placing third in the 500 free (5:10.86) while senior Amber Long finished second in the 200 IM in 2:11.74. The team of Laliberte, Corrina Nickerson, Brady and Bartlett then went on to finish second in the 400 medley relay behind Simmons College.
In men's competition, the Owls dominated both relay events. The team of Gregory Youngstrom, Logan Duffley, Cole Hogg and Ryan Boraski won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:23.31, while Chris Barriss, Nathan Shepard, Hogg and Youngstrom won the 400 medley relay in 3:27.99.
Shepard and Youngstrom stole the show in the individual events. Shepard won the 50 breaststroke in 26.53, while Youngstrom won the 50 freestyle in 21.02. Youngstrom was supported by many Owl swimmers: Duffley clinched the second spot (21.90), senior Zach Carrolll was fourth (22.07) and senior Aidan Quinn finished sixth (22.21).
However, the real point-scorers for the Owls on Friday night were three divers. Senior Cody Fitzgerald and freshman Jake Driscoll finished first and second on the one-meter board. Fitzgerald finished with 391.90 points and Driscoll finished with 331.35 points. Sophomore Robert Zawasky also placed in the top eight, finishing sixth with 294.55 points. They combined for 84 points toward the team scores.
The Owls are back in the pool Saturday morning for day two, with competition set to conclude Sunday night.
TEAM SCORES:
Women:
Roger Williams University-551
Keene State College -531
Simmons COllege - 379
Men:
Keene State College - 329
Roger Williams University - 237.5
Norwich University - 209
