Women's Swimming Finishes Fourth At NEAC Championships

COBLESKILL, N.Y. – The Wells College women's swimming team fell short of claiming their fourth-consecutive North Eastern Athletic Conference Championship title this weekend, finishing the three-day championship meet in fourth place out of six programs with 349 points.

Cazenovia College led the six-team field with 518 points, followed by the hosts from SUNY Cobleskill in second place with 492 points. Cedar Crest College placed third with 362 points while the Express secured a fourth place finish. Gallaudet University (220) and the College of Saint Elizabeth (127) rounded out the field.

Across the three-day meet, Wells swimmers posted 15 career-best times and recorded 10 new times that rank within the top-10 in team history. Express swimmers finished in third place or better 12 different times, picking up as many NEAC All-Conference awards with podium finishes.

The Express did not set any team records across the previous three days, but freshman Kaitlyn Schwend (San Marcos, Calif.) came the closest after placing second out of 11 swimmers in the 100 Yard Butterfly (1:03.87) on Saturday. The first-year swimmer was only .12 seconds away from beating Jennifer Ingold's program record of 1:03.76, set originally on Feb. 20, 1992 at the New York State Championships.

Wells remains the only NEAC institution to boast five championship titles across both men's and women's swimming. Dating back to the very first NEAC swim meet in 2010, the women's swim team has finished in third place or better in five of the six years of competition. The Wells women also boast the most conference titles of any team at the College with three.

Schwend posted one of the day's stronger finishes, collecting the first place finish in the 200 Yard Butterfly with a time of 2:25.41. The second-fastest time posted by any Wells swimmer in the event, Schwend trails only Ingold's time of 2:18.47.

Senior Olive Touron (Cato, N.Y.) began the final day of her collegiate career with a time of 59.63 in the 100 Yard Freestyle, not only setting a career-best time but notching the 10th fastest time in team history. Freshman Samantha Hall (Ogdensburg, N.Y.) finished four places behind Touron in eighth place with a career-best time of 1:05.67.

Senior Stephanie Todd (Norwich, N.Y.) also had a strong finish to her career, setting a personal best in the 1,650 Yard Freestyle with a time of 21:25.95 to place third. Her time also places her eighth in team history.

Sophomore Amelia Flint (Bath, N.Y.) finished third in the 200 Yard Backstroke, posting a time of 2:30.78 to record the fourth-fastest time in team history, trailing the all-time leader by just over 11 seconds.

Flint's classmate, Gina Ross-Detro (Geneva, N.Y.), secured a fourth place time in the 200 Yard Breaststroke (2:48.15), recording the fifth-fastest time in team history. Freshman Rachel Elliker (Owego, N.Y.) set a personal-best time of 3:29.07 in the same event.

Wells concluded the day with two entries in the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay. The foursome of Flint, Ross-Detro, Schwend and Touron posted a third place time of 4:05.47 while the squadron of Hall, Elliker, Todd and Daniels collectively swam in 4:27.05 for a ninth place finish.

The Express concluded their 40th season as a varsity program following the NEAC Championships. The team finished with 11 new entries in the all-Wells Top 10 list dating back to the start of the season.

Updated post-game stories covering the previous two days of the NEAC Championship have been updated - click here for Friday's recap, click here for Saturday's recap.