Swimming Crowned Metropolitan Champions
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Feb. 16, 2014) - After three long days at the Werblin Recreation Center on the campus of Rutgers, the LIU Post women's swimming team came home with its second-consecutive Metropolitan Conference Championship. The Pioneers finished with 1,355 total points to capture the title.
Rounding out the Top-5 schools were Bridgeport (1,067 points), TCNJ (893 points), Southern Connecticut State (815 points), and Montclair State (757 points).
In the long distance event of the day, the Pioneers raced to the Top-2 spots. Freshman
Poppy Hill (London, England, United Kingdom) led the way, posting a time of 17:42.82 in the 1,650-yard freestyle. That mark topped the third-best time in school history by nearly five seconds. Senior
Malin Hedberg (Vasteras, Sweden) came in second (17:53.47).
Junior
Johanna Pettersson (Kungalv, Sweden) followed Hill's first-place effort with a win of her own. The junior swam to an NCAA "B" cut time of 2:01.99 in the 200-yard backstroke, while teammate
Kirsty Elliott's
(Edinburgh, Scotland) 2:11.07 clocking was the eighth-best in the event.
Seven different Pioneers had Top-20 performances in the 100-yard freestyle. Sophomore
Meghan Brazier (West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) recorded a 'B' cut, second-place finish of 51.85 to spearhead the green and gold in the 100-free.
A trio of LIU Post swimmers battled to secure the fourth, fifth, and sixth spots, all within 0.13 seconds of each other. Sophomore
Seren Jones (Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom) reached the wall first of the three (53.05). Junior
Courtney Delehanty (Oceanport, N.J.) and sophomore
Marthe Soerensen (Stavanger, Norway) were separated by a mere six-hundredths of a second, as the pair clocked respective times of 53.12 and 53.18.
Also finishing well in the event were sophomore
Kat Kazaba (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) in 11th, senior
Angelica Norrena (Solna, Sweden) in 14th, and junior
Maxi Russo (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) in 19th.
Setting her second team record of the weekend, junior
Carolin Rademacher (Isernhagen, Germany) swam to a second-place showing in the 200-yard breaststroke with a clocking of 2:16.79. Taking third in the event was senior
Tamara Garriock (Duncan, British Columbia, Canada), who touched the pad at 2:19.45. Fellow senior
Chelcee Hew (Savage, Minn.) placed ninth (2:25.36).
In the final individual event of the championships, sophomore
Joyce Kwok (Middle Village, N.Y.) sent her squad out with a bang, as she won the 200-yard butterfly with a 'B' cut time of 2:01.63.
Closing out the meet, Garriock, Brazier, Kwok, and Soerensen posted the program's second-best all-time 400-yard freestyle relay run (3:26.62), and secured a second-place swim in the process.
Next, the Pioneers will travel to Annapolis, Md. for the ECAC Championships at the U.S. Naval Academy. The meet will take place over a three-day period from Friday, Feb. 28 until Sunday, Mar. 2.
Women - Final Team Rankings
1. LIU Post - 1,355
2. Bridgeport - 1,067
3. TCNJ - 893
4. Southern Connecticut State - 815
5. Montclair State - 757
6. Rowan - 749
7. Merchant Marine - 437
8. Ramapo - 405
9. William Paterson - 335
10. Saint Rose - 329
11. Adelphi - 276
12. Queens (N.Y.) - 248
13. Baruch - 233
14. Mount Saint Mary - 224
15. Staten Island - 142
16. Hunter - 132
17. Maritime - 106
18. Pace - 45
19. Lehman - 42