Women’s Swim Team Third at 2017 NESCAC Championship
Following the highest-ever finish at the Women’s Swimming Conference Championship, seven members of the swimming and diving team were named to the All-NESCAC squad.
The Connecticut College women’s swimming team scored 1,268.5 points to place third at the New England Small College Athletic Conference Championship at Bowdoin College Feb. 10-12.
The Camels finished in front of Middlebury, Bates College and Bowdoin College; these teams came in 4-6th respectively. Williams College piled up 1,856 points to finish first, while Amherst placed second with 1,367 points.
Third place was the highest-ever finish at a NESCAC Conference Championship. And the Camels' point total also set a school record for women’s swimming.
“This top-three finish in NESCAC for our women is a testament to the hard work and leadership of our seniors and the motivational and technical skills of our coaches, Head Coach Marc Benvenuti and Assistant Connor Beaulieu,” said Fran Shields, the Katherine Wenk Christoffers '45 Director of Athletics and Chair of the Physical Education Department.
“The team is excited now to build on this momentum as they anticipate sending several swimmers to the NCAAs in Texas in March.”
On the back of this strong performance seven members of the swimming and diving team were selected to the All-NESCAC team: Valerie Urban, Mary Erb, Lily Gribbel, Olivia Haskell, Maeve Wilber, Julia Klier and Katie Hammond. (See results below)
Senior All-American Valerie Urban placed second in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:10.80. Urban provisionally qualified for the 2017 NCAA Championship in the 1,650 yard-freestyle, posting a time of 17:09.43 en route to a third-place finish for the Camels.
Mary Erb garnered All-NESCAC accolades in the 50-, 100- and 200-yard breaststroke. Erb posted a time of 29.59 seconds to place third in the 50-yard breaststroke. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Erb placed second for the Camels, provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championship with a time of 1:03.27. Erb placed second in the 200-yard breaststroke, provisionally qualifying for the upcoming NCAA Championship with a time of 2:18.74.
Lily Gribbel posted a time of 23.76 in the 50-yard freestyle, provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championship with her second-place finish. Gribbel placed third in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 25.33 seconds.
Sophomore All-American Olivia Haskell garnered All-NESCAC honors in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, placing third and provisionally qualifying for nationals in both events with times of 23.79 seconds and 51.53 seconds for the Camels.
Sophomore Maeve Wilber garnered All-NESCAC honors in the 50-yard backstroke, placing third for the Camels in 26.68 seconds.
The Camels also garnered All-NESCAC honors in two relays, the 200-yard medley and the 800-yard freestyle relay.
In the 200-yard medley relay, the Camel quartet, comprising Wilber, Erb, Gribbel and Haskell, placed second, provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championship in 1:42.90.
In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Urban, Julia Klier, Katie Hammond and Haskell placed third for the Camels, provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championship with a time of 7:36.05.
February 17, 2017
