Simmons Swimming and Diving captured eighth place out of twenty-two teams with 339 points at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Championships on February 21. The Sharks set five program records and finished three spots higher and with 78 more points than the 2009 meet—the highest program finish for Simmons at New England's since the 2003 season.
Freshman diver Kaira King (Las Vegas, Nev.) captured the 3-Meter 11-dive record with 324.40 points, and finished 7th overall.
Freshman sprinter Alyssa Musket (Lincoln, R.I.) improved her own 50 Freestyle school record with a time of 25.02 in Prelims and yet again in Finals with a 24.82, securing 3rd place and earning All-New England honors. Musket, along with Nellie Jackson (Dorchester, Mass.), Virginia Bette (Southbury, Conn.) and Brittany Torelli (Waterbury, Conn.) improved their 200 Freestyle Relay record by over a second and a half with a new time of 1:44.08, finishing 4th overall.
The same four women broke the school record in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:57.02, moving up four places between trials and finals to finish 7th. In the 400 Freestyle Relay, Jackson, Bette, Musket and Torelli just barely missed the school record during Prelims, but came back hungry during Finals and shattered the record by 4 seconds, setting a new time of 3:50.07.
The Sharks settled scores with competition from Plymouth State and UMass Dartmouth after close losses to both teams during the regular season (Plymouth finished in ninth place, while UMass finished twelfth).
Overall, the Sharks swam and dove to 35 season-best times/scores, and truly made a statement about the strength of this year's squad.
Championship Final Qualifiers:
Alyssa Musket- 50 Free and 100 IM (finishing 3rd in both with All-New England Honors)
Brittany Torelli- 200 IM (finishing 6th and earning All-New England honors)
Nellie Jackson, Virginia Bette, Alyssa Musket, Brittany Torelli- 200 Free Relay
Consolation Finalists:
Kaira King- 1-meter and 3-meter diving
Curry Girr- 1-meter and 3-meter diving
Amanda Dirksmeier- 1-meter and 3-meter diving
Nellie Jackson- 50 Fly
Alyssa Musket- 50 Fly
Brittany Torelli- 100 and 200 Breast
Virginia Bette- 50 and 100 Backstroke
Nellie Jackson, Virginia Bette, Alyssa Musket, Brittany Torelli- 200 and 400 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay
Bonus Heat Qualifiers:
Heather O'Connell- 1-meter and 3-meter diving
Virginia Bette- 50 Free
Liz Zamagni- 50 and 200 Breast
Molly Bohannon- 200 Fly
Hannah McQuillan- 1650 Free
Caitlin Urciuoli- 1000 Free