'On This Day' Express Swimming Teams Sweep Weekly Conference Awards
'On This Day' is a Wells College Athletics feature series taking a look back on events that occurred on this day, Jan. 12, five years ago in 2016.
GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – A pair of Wells College freshmen swept conference honors. Austin Heil of the Wells College men's swimming program and Courtney Cloutier of the Wells College women's swimming program both earned North Eastern Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Week honors on Jan. 12, 2016, after outstanding performances against Buffalo State on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016.
Heil took the NEAC Men's Swimmer of the Week award, while Cloutier secured the NEAC Women's Swimmer of the Week.
Heil helped the Express to a thrilling first place victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:41.96 in the day's final event, narrowly missing out on an All-Wells Top-10 time. He also earned two second place finishes for Wells, falling only .46 seconds short of first in the 50-yard freestyle (24.79) before completing the 100-yard freestyle in 54.11 seconds. Also competing in the 200-yard freestyle, he earned a point for his squad with a third-place finish (2:03.58).
On the season, Heil has competed in the 50-, 100-, 200-, 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle events and set a personal-best time on Saturday in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles.
Cloutier collected a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly, setting a career-best time of 2:32.53 in the process. She also collected two second place times in the 100-yard butterfly (1:09.58) and the 100-yard Individual Medley (1:10.81). Additionally, she helped the Express to a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 2:08.86.
On the season, Cloutier has competed in the 200-yard freestyle, the 1,000-yard freestyle and both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly events. She also made her debut in the 100-yard individual medley against the Bengals after competing in the 200-yard individual medley in three prior meets.
