Two Program Records Fall In NEAC Championship Opener

CAZENOVIA, N.Y. – Freshman Courtney Cloutier (West Springfield, Mass.) was a part of two program records for the Wells College women's swimming team on Friday as the Express competed in the 2015-16 North Eastern Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.

Hosted by Cazenovia College, the Express finished the first day of action in second place after earning 120 points as a team. The hosts lead the five-team field after the first 12 events with 205 total points while Wells, SUNY Cobleskill (113), Cedar Crest (96) and Gallaudet (83) round out the five-team field.

In the preliminaries, Cloutier posted a dominant time of 2:21.85 in the 200 Yard Individual Medley, shattering the previous Wells College record of 2:25.46 set on Jan. 28, 2012 by Gabby Spencer against William Smith and Cazenovia. She eventually took second place later in the day, recording a time of 2:23.15 in the finals.

Cloutier also teamed with senior Quinn Griswold (Alpine, N.Y.), junior Gina Ross-Detro (Geneva, N.Y.) and sophomore Kaitlyn Schwend (San Marcos, Calif.) to set the team's 400 Yard Medley Relay record in both the preliminaries and the finals. Posting a low time of 4:30.93 in the preliminaries to initially set the record, Wells captured first with a time of 4:30.11 in the finals – the previous school record of 4:35.72 was set on Nov. 29, 1983 against Oswego State.

After taking fourth place in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay to open the scored portion of the championship, senior Nina Daniels (Pittsford, N.Y.) made an impact for the Express with a time of 5:47.80 in the 500 Yard Freestyle to take third place in the finals with the 10th-fastest time in program history. Griswold finished one place behind Daniels after completing the event in 6:00.42.

Schwend's 50 Yard Freestyle time of 27.89 was a career-low, earning fifth place within a crowded field of 12 swimmers. Freshman Emily Blake (Naples, N.Y.) and classmate Chasity Daniels (Manhattan, N.Y.) chipped in the fastest times of their respective careers, 34.02 and 36.25, respectively.

Wells returns to the pool Saturday, Feb. 13 for the second day of the NEAC Championship meet. Preliminary events begin at 10 a.m. while the finals will commence at 5 p.m. within the Schneeweiss Athletic Complex.