Posted: Feb 14, 2016

Women's Swimming Earns Second at NEAC Championship

CAZENOVIA, N.Y. – The Wells College women's swimming program finished the three-day North Eastern Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championship in second place on Sunday, racking up 399 points. Since the first NEAC Championship meet in 2010, the Express have either won or finished as the runner-up in five of the seven meets.

The host Wildcats from Cazenovia College accumulated 730 points through all 40 events, winning its third title in seven years. SUNY Cobleskill finished third with 329 points while Cedar Crest racked up 304 total points. Gallaudet rounded out the five-team field with 253 points.

All of the Wells women swimmers combined to register 34 career-low times in both preliminaries and the finals while collecting 14 NEAC All-Conference awards with top-three finishes. There are also 13 new records to be added to the All-Wells Top 10 list, a compilation of the program's top-10 times across all events.

Freshman Courtney Cloutier (West Springfield, Mass.) was selected as the NEAC Rookie of the Year after many outstanding performances for Wells throughout the championship. She was a key part of three separate program records for the Express and finished first in the 400 Yard Medley Relay, 400 Yard Individual Medley and the 200 Yard Butterfly, earning NEAC First Team All-Conference merits.

Additionally, Cloutier earned Second Team All-NEAC honors in the 200 Yard Individual Medley and the 800 Yard Freestyle Relay. Drawing Third Team recognition in the 800 Yard Freestyle Relay, Cloutier also was a part of six different All-Wells Top 10 times throughout the three-day championship.

On Sunday, Cloutier netted a first place finish in the 200 Yard Butterfly with a time of 2:29.14, notching the fourth-fastest time in team history in the process. Sophomore Kaitlyn Schwend (San Marcos, Calif.) finished second, giving Wells the one-two finish with a time of 2:33.99 (fifth-fastest in team history).

Junior Gina Ross-Detro (Geneva, N.Y.) got the day started properly for the Express, earning second place with a time of 1:11.43 in the 100 Yard Individual Medley after posting the ninth-fastest time in the event during the preliminary round (1:11.16). She later earned a third place finish in the 200 Yard Breaststroke (2:51.72) to collect an additional 12 points.

Senior Quinn Griswold (Alpine, N.Y.) collected second in the 200 Yard Backstroke, turning in the third-best time in team history (2:23.15) after posting a career-low time during preliminaries. Classmate Nina Daniels (Pittsford, N.Y.) followed with an additional second place finish, completing the 1,650 Yard Freestyle in 20:15.10, setting a personal best time in the event. That time stands as the fourth-fastest time in program history.

Daniels, Griswold, Schwend and Cloutier rounded out the strong performances for Wells with a third place time of 4:05.08 in the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay in 4:05.08.