"Awards Show Countdown": Women's Swimming

"Awards Show Countdown" is a Wells College Athletics feature that reviews a memorable moment from each team while counting down to showtime. With 7 days remaining until the virtual online Express Awards Show, let's take a look at a moment from the women's swimming team's 2019-20 season.

The Wells College women's swimming team finished its final season in the North Eastern Athletic Conference as champion during the 2020 NEAC Championships at SUNY Cobleskill the weekend of Feb. 14-16. The team is set to compete in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference starting in 2020-21.

What made this weekend memorable in addition to the championship for the Express women's swimming team was the capture of two major postseason awards – more than any other team in the championships. In addition to Coach Trish George being named NEAC Women's Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year, highly touted first-year swimmer Saoirse Murphy-Collins was awarded NEAC Women's Swimming and Diving Rookie of the Year.

The Wells College women's swimming team racked up 463 points in securing the championship, while individual Wells College team members produced 14 distinctions of merit with eight all-conference selections, four all-time top-10 school times and the aforementioned pair of major awards.

While those awards highlighted the entire season, the championship venue brought out the best in this year's Wells College women's team. Four members of the team recorded times in various events that were good enough to land on the college's all-time top-10 list four times.

In addition, all four new top-10 times were directly responsible for four of eight all-conference honors bestowed to the Express. Wells College finished with a pair of first-team all-conference selections, a pair of second-team all-conference selections and four third-team all-conference selections.

Leading the way was Murphy-Collins, who factored in on six of the eight all-conference nods. As part of a relay team, that comprised Murphy-Collins, Hailey Onofre, Shannon Simmons and Nicole D'Aurizio, the group earned three all-conference selections. The quartet took second-team all-conference in the 400-yard relay and third-team all-conference in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 800-yard freestyle relay. The latter relay time of 9:37.26 was 10th best in school history.

Individually, Murphy-Collins took a pair of first-team honors in the 500-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. The latter event placed the dynamic freshman seventh on the all-time top-10 list in that event with a 59.43 time. Murphy-Collins also registered a second-team honor in the 200-yard freestyle that placed her again in seventh-place all-time with a 2:10.46 time.

Onofre, who helped the team to a trio of all-conference relay awards, recorded a pair of third-team all-conference individual honors as well. Collectively as part of the relay team and individually, the freshman finished with five all-conference selections.

Onofre took the first of two third-team all-conference awards in the 100-yard breaststroke, and the second in the 200-yard breaststroke. The latter event produced a time of 2:58.83 that placed Onofre on the all-time top-10 list at 10th.

The rest of the Wells College championship roster includes: seniors Asa Cade and Caroline Keleman; junior Jeanna Swift; sophomores Jessica Boeheim, Alexis Huff and Jenna Watson; and freshmen Marta Arcate-Bradin and Feleesha Jones. George was assisted in coaching the team by Collin Mitchell.