DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Keene State College claimed the Little East Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Championship title for the 14th consecutive season and for the 17th time overall after totaling 556 points Saturday at UMass Dartmouth's Tripp Athletic Center.
For Eastern, which placed sixth among seven teams with 133 points, junior Kerry-Rose Buchanan (Southington) earned All-LEC honors twice in her first appearance in the championships. Buchanan swam to second-team honors with second-place finishes in the 500 (5:33.27) as the No. 2 seed and 1650 freestyle (19:01.49) as the #7 seed, establishing personal bests in both. She edged third-seeded Molly O'Connor of Keene State (5:35.15) for second place in the 500 and bested fourth-seeded O'Connor (19:07.40) for second place in the 1650.
Buchanan contended for three all-conference honors but as the No. 1 seed, was third in the 200 freestyle (2:03.93), just over a second slower than senior Sophie Hayes of Keene State, who finished second as the No. 11 seed (2:02.43).
Buchanan had previously qualified in all three of those events for the NEISDA Championships later this month.
Just missing out on all-conference recognition was junior Tegan Ruschmeier (Vernon) in the 200 butterfly. The No. 3-seeded Ruschmeier was third in a season-best time of 2:36.13, just behind second-seeded Morgan Beebe of UMass Dartmouth (2:25.76). Ruschmeier, like Buchanan, has already qualified for the NEISDA Championships.
The 400 relay also fell one place shy of All-LEC laurels with a third-place finish in a time of 4:11.83, six seconds behind UMass Dartmouth. Swimming for Eastern were freshman Sophia Maselli (Newington), freshman Julia Keller (Torrington), senior Callan Veltheim (New London), and Buchanan.
Buchanan accumulated 38 points in her three individual events, with Ruschmeier next with 20: 12 with her third-place finish in the 200 butterfly and four each with ninth-place finishes in the 100 butterfly (1:10.22) and 200 individual medley (2:41.47). Freshman Megan Gallagher (Watertown) followed Buchanan and Ruschmeier with 11 points in three individual events. She was ninth in the 100 backstroke (1:09.21) and 200 backstroke (2:30.78) and tenth in the 500 freestyle (5:52.49).
The two relays netted 42 points: the 400 freestyle relay with 24 with its third-place finish and the 200 medley relay (2:08.51) which added 18 points with a six-place finish.
Keene State's Hayes was named the 2019-20 LEC Swimmer of the Year. Her meet was highlighted by sweeping the butterfly events, taking the 100 title with her time of 59.85 seconds and the 200 title after touching the wall in 2:13.57. She was the runner-up in the 200 freestyle, clocking in at 2:02.43.
Owls' freshman Jaelin Jang garnered LEC Rooke Swimmer of the Year honors while claiming three individual titles in her LEC championship debut, taking top honors in the 100 freestyle (55.35), 200 freestyle (1:59.57) and 200 IM (2:16.27)
Plymouth State University senior Casey Allaire was named the LEC Diver of the Year for the third consecutive year after sweeping the one-meter (200.35) and three-meter (212.65) events. She is the second three-time LEC Diver of the Year, the first being Westfield State's Katie Sterpka (2012-15). UMass Dartmouth's Cathy Motta was named the 2019-20 Coach of the Year, marking the fifth time she has received the honor.
Senior Madison Pechulis was also a double-winner on the day for the Owls, winning the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.46 and taking the top-spot in the 200 breaststroke with her time of 2:30.58. She won the 100 in each of the last three years, and won the 200 for the second time in three years.
Keene State sophomore Paige Carey won the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 18:59.92 in the first individual event of the day, and went on to also finish first in the 500 freestyle after touching the wall in 5:26.00. Owls' junior Samantha Dickinson claimed the 50 freestyle championship with her time of 25.81 seconds.
Keene State swept the relay events. The 200 medley relay quartet of senior Sydney McGough, Pechulis, Hayes and senior Molly O'Connor clocked in at 1:53.23 in the first event of the day. Dickinson, senior Erin Morley, Carey and Jang clocked in at 3:49.01to cap the day's action.
UMass Dartmouth sophomore Maddie Kovach swept the backstroke events, claiming the top spot in the 100 with a time of 1:01.57 and the 200 with a time of 2:14.40. She repeated as LEC champion in the 200-yard event.
Eastern competes in the NEISDA Championships Feb. 13-16 at the University of Rhode Island.
2020 Final Team Standings
1. Keene State – 556
2. UMass Dartmouth – 307
3. Westfield State – 192
4. Plymouth State - 161
5. Western Connecticut - 134
6. Eastern Connecticut - 133
7. Rhode Island College – 51
Keene State College Wins Inaugural Men's Invitational
Keene State College scored 569 points to win the first-ever Little East Conference Men's Swimming & Diving Invitational Saturday, which was hosted by UMass Dartmouth. The team standings were rounded out by the host Corsairs (454), Western Connecticut State University (172) and Eastern Connecticut State University (37).
In 2020-21, the expected addition of a fifth men's team will give men's swimming the minimum number of teams necessary to constitute an official LEC championship sport.
Competing for the first-year Eastern men's program Saturday were sophomore PJ Jimeñez (Meriden) in the 100 backstroke (1:35.33), 50 freestyle (37.30) and 100 freestyle (1:20.35), freshman Jake Lachniet (Windsor) in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.75), 100 freestyle (57.45), and 50 freestyle (26.55), senior Forest Rappe (Glenwood Springs, CO) in the 50 freestyle (29.38) and 100 freestyle (1:07.68), and junior Seth Hisman (Chaplin) in the 50 freestyle (33.18) and 100 freestyle (1:19.95). Lachniet, Jimenez, Hisman and Rappe also teamed on the 400 freestyle relay (4:48.84).
Lachniet will compete in the NEISDA Championships Feb. 13-16 at the University of Rhode Island.
