MIDDLETOWN, Conn. --  Preparing for the annual Connecticut Cup competition against the top Division III men's and women's swim teams in the state is never about preparing to win --as  many of the events feature upwards of 60 competitors. It's more about measuring oneself against what will without a doubt be the stiffest competition of the season (including the Little East Conference Championships in February) at about the halfway point of the season.

This weekend at the eighth annual event hosted by Wesleyan University at the Webster Family Natatorium, the Eastern Connecticut State University women's and men's teams measured up -- with 11 members of each team posting 22 personal bests and three men's swimmers setting program records and establishing a number of the program's Top 10 times.

The women's competition went down to the final relay, with Division I Central Connecticut -- a newcomer to the meet -- edging Division III host Wesleyan University by a single point for the team title after the Cardinals went 2-3 in that final 400 freestyle relay to nearly pull out the win. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy trimmed Connecticut College by 12 points in a repeat of last year's men's championship finish. The Eastern men were fifth in a seven-team field and the women sixth among nine participating teams. The Eastern men were seventh in an eight-team field last year and the women were sixth of eight.

The men broke program records in consecutive events in Saturday's evening session. Sophomore Joseph Sylvester (Morris) broke the program record when he swam the 1650 freestyle for the first time (18:42.87), and junior Nathan Melia (Manchester) broke his own record in the backstroke (2:10.26) not long after. On the first day Friday, sophomore Connor Rego (Winsted) broke his own program record in the 200 individual medley (2:06.78).

On the weekend, Sylvester established four personal records and  first-year swimmers Uzair Bhura (East Hartford), Deagan Granville (Newtown) and Sam Hurlburt (Meriden) set three personal standards each.

Sophomore Ben D'Addario (Fairfield), who holds three of the program's freestyle records, was able to finish roughly among the top half of the field in the 50 and 100 freestyle races and Hurlburt among the top half in the 100 breaststroke. D'Addario was 33rd among 60 in the the 50 freestyle (23.48) and 23rd among 43 in the 100 freestyle (50.79) and Hurlburt placed 16th in a field of 29 in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.03).

The men opened the meet by swimming the second (1:33.46) and fifth (1:36.42)-fastest 200 freestyle relays in program history. Teamming on the former relay were Melia, junior Connor Scully (Oxford), Rego and D'Addario and on the latter were Sylvester, Hurlburt, and first-year swimmers James Bragg-Phillips (Stratford) and  Jae Pinilla-O'Dea (Madison).

For the women, sophomore Allison Ronan (Northbridge, MA) swam two of the fastest backstroke times in program history and sophomore Lindsay Weaver (Newington) had one of the program's most impressive performances on the weekend. Leading off the relays, Ronan swam the sixth-fastest 100 backstroke (1:02.88) and the eighth-fastest 50 backstroke (29.47). Weaver had the highest finish for the Warriors when she touched among the top 30 percent with a 12th-place finish among 41 competitors with a PR of 1:01.03 in the 100 butterfly which vaulted her from eighth to fifth on the program's all-time list in that event. Junior Kelly Schneider (Portland) led ten Eastern swimmers in the 50 freestyle, with her PR of 26.25 giving her 29th place in a field of 63
and leaving her less than a half-second outside the program's all-time Top 10 in that event.

With Ronan leading off, the 400 medley relay clocked the tenth-fastest in program history (4:15.59),  finishing 16th among 26 competing teams. Following Ronan were first-year breaststroker Natasha Frisch (Mendota Heights, MN), Weaver, and Schneider.

On the weekend, Weaver, Ronan, Frisch and first-year swimmer Katie Roberts (Deep River) all turned in personal bests in three individual events.

Eastern hosts Keene State College Jan. 14 at 1 p.m. at the Sports Center Pool.


WOMEN'S & MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING
EIGHTH ANNUAL
CONNECTICUT CUP
Dec. 2-3, 2022
at the Webster Family Natatorium, Wesleyan University

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. Central Conn. 774; 2. Wesleyan U. 773; 3. U.S. Coast Guard 708;
4. Trinity College 505; 5. Connecticut College 486; 6. EASTERN CONN. 112;
7. U. of Saint Joseph 70; 8. Western Conn. 20; 9. Albertus Magnus College 18.

MEN'S TEAM SCORES
1. U.S. Coast Guard 836; 2. Connecticut College 824; 3. Wesleyan U. 764.5;
4. Trinity College 436; 5. EASTERN CONN. 203; 6. U. of Saint Joseph 177.5;
7. Western Conn. 108.

                                              EASTERN'S RESULTS

MEN
Event #	Event (# of participants)	Name	Time	Place
#4	500 Free (28)	Sylvester	5:11.86	21st
		Cavar	5:38.56	24th
		Granville	5:58.55	28th
#6	200 IM (33)	Rego	2:06.78*	24th
	*-Program record	Anderson	2:20.65	30th
#8	50 Free (60)	D'Addario	23.48	t-33rd
		Melia	23.56	37th
		Scully	23.88	41st
		Hurlburt	x24.21	48th
		Bragg-Phillips	x24.46	49th
		Pinilla-O'Dea	x24.93	51st
		Bhura	x25.01	54th
		Cavar	x25.58	55th
		Tofil	x26.86	57th
#14	100 Fly (33)	Rego	55.67	24th
		Bragg-Phillips	1:02.57	31st
		Anderson	1:02.66	33rd
#16	400 IM (21)	Rego	4:35.00	19th
#18	200 Free (41)	D'Addario	1;53.99	26th
		Sylvester	1:54.88	27th
		Cavar	2:04.12	32nd
		Granville	x2:09.38	36th
		Tofil	x2:16.87	37th
#20	100 Breast (29)	Hurlburt	1:03.03	16th
		Scully	1:04.03	19th
		Bragg-Phillips	1:12.27	26th
		Granville	x1:16.50	29th
#22	100 Back (28)	Melia	57.42	17th
		Pinilla-O'Dea	1:03.29	20th
		Anderson	1:04.53	22nd
		Tofil	x1:13.82	27th
		Bhura	x1:14.09	28th
#28	1650 Free (14)	Sylvester	18:42.87*	13th
	*-Program record	Cavar	20:13.58	14th
#30	200 Back (21)	Melia	2:10.26*	17th
	*-Program record	Pinilla-O'Dea	2:19.15	19th
		Tofil	2:38.71	21st
#32	100 Free (43)	D'Addario	50.79	23rd
		Scully	51.76	27th
		Bragg-Phillips	54.82	34th
		Cavar	x55.77	39th
		Bhura	x56.27	40th
		Granville	x58.45	41st
#34	200 Breast (21)	Hurlburt	2:21.29	16th
		Scully	2:22.11	17th
		Granville	2:48.48	20th
#36	200 Butterfly (20)	Rego	2:04.89	17th
		Anderson	2:25.45	20th
	Relays
#2	200 Free (23)
	Melia, Scully, Rego, D'Addario		1:33.46	t-15th
	Sylvester, Hurlburt, Bragg-Phillips, Pinilla-O'Dea		1:36.42	21st
	Cavar, Tofil, Anderson, Bhura		x1:42.09	22nd
#26	200 Medley (26)
	Melia, Hurlburt, Rego, D'Addario		1:42.90	17th
	Sylvester, Scully, Anderson, Pinilla-O'Dea		1:50.64	23rd
	Tofil, Granville, Bragg-Phillips, Cavar		x2:02.25	25th
#38	400 Free (23)
	Sylvester, Rego, Melia, D'Addario		3:26.40	16th
	Scully, Pinilla-O'Dea, Hurlburt, Bragg-Phillips		3:36.58	21st
	Anderson, Cavar, Bhura, Tofil		x3:52.75	22nd
#12	400 Medley (25)
	Melia, Hurlburt, Rego, D'Addario		3:47.10	17th
	Sylvester, Scully, Anderson, Pinilla-O'Dea		4:00.97	23rd
	Tofil, Granville, Bragg-Phillips, Bhura		x4:25.87	24th
WOMEN
#3	500 Free (44)	Norbut	5:59.48	36th
		Connolly	6:06.42	37th
		Pascual	6:20.99	41st
		K. Roberts	x6:37.91	42nd
#5	200 IM (38)	Ronan	2:23.07	28th
		Scanlon	2:32.15	34th
#7	50 Free (63)	Schneider	26.25	29th
		Weaver	26.66	36th
		Sabio	27.04	40th
		Frisch	x27.05	41st
		Morin	x28.26	50th
		Nielsen	x29.27	54th
		Allen	x29.30	55th
		Madden	x30.20	58th
		Verdiccio	x30.70	59th
		Lasbury	x30.72	60th
#13	100 Fly (41)	Weaver	1:01.03	12th
#15	400 IM (20)	Scanlon	5:24.78	19th
#17	200 Free (42)	Connolly	2:18.56	34th
		Pascual	2:18.68	35th
		Morin	2:18.98	36th
		K. Roberts	x2:27.48	39th
#19	100 Breast (30)	Frisch	1:13.80	20th
		Madden	1:22.58	26th
		Nielsen	1:26.73	29th
#21	100 Back (43)	Ronan	1:03.20	23rd
		Norbut	1:07.32	32nd
		Verdicchio	1:18.52	39th
#27	1650 Free (18)	Norbut	20:43.56	14th
		K. Roberts	23:04.85	18th
#29	200 Back (28)	Ronan	2:21.07	22nd
		Norbut	2:31.33	27th
#31	100 Free (49)	Weaver	57.48	29th
		Morin	1:02.70	43rd
		Nielsen	1:05.02	44th
		Verdiccio	x1:05.16	45th
#33	200 Breast (24)	Frisch	2:45.77	17th
		Allen	3:03.49	21st
		Madden	3:06.29	22nd
#35	200 Fly (25)	Scanlon	2:28.73	24th
	Relays
#1	200 Free (27)
	Ronan, Schneider, Frisch, Weaver		1:44.29	14th
	Norbut, Nielsen, Pascual, Connolly		1:52.72	23rd
	Madden, Lasbury, Roberts, Allen		x2:00.93	27th
#11	400 Medley (26)
	Ronan, Frisch, Weaver, Schneider		4:15.59	16th
	Norbut, Allen, Scanlon, Sabio		4:31.83	24th
#25	200 Medley (28)
	Ronan, Frisch, Weaver, Sabio		1:55.90	15th
	Norbut, Madden, Scanlon, Morin		2:03.52	24th
	Gallagher, Nielsen, Pascual, Verdicchio		x2:20.10	28th
#37	400 Free (25)
	Weaver, Frisch, Schneider, Ronan		3:55.31	20th
	Norbut, Morin, Scanlon, Sabio		4:06.75	23rd