KINGSTON, R.I. - Junior Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) broke her own 50-yard breaststroke school record for the Simmons College women's swimming & diving team and also helped the Sharks set a new program standard in the 400-yard medley relay to contribute to an overall second-place team showing on Day Two of the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association Championship this evening at host University of Rhode Island's Tootell Aquatic Center in Kingston, R.I.
Simmons has totaled 526 points for the meet and trails Roger Williams University's score of 606.
Giraldi broke her own school record in the 50-breaststroke in the morning's preliminaries for the Sharks and shattered the new mark during the evening's finals with a time of 30.24 to claim the gold medal as the top swimmer in the event. She also swam the breaststroke leg of the 400-yard medley relay, while senior Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M.) swam the opening backstroke leg of the race in combination with junior Michaela Morris' (Duxbury, Mass.) butterfly leg and sophomore Kerry Fleming's (Northampton, Mass.) freestyle anchor leg to compile a school-record time of 3:56.59 to win the event. Giraldi also swam the third leg of Simmons' winning 200-yard freestyle relay entry, while Swisher opened the race for the Sharks, followed by senior Sarah Price (New York, N.Y.) and first year Laura List's (Bedford, Mass.) anchor leg to combine on a time of 1:38.82.
Swisher joined Giraldi by successfully defending her championship in the 200-yard backstroke for the Sharks with a time of 2:05.73 to hit the wall first. Sophomore Cassie Vietas (Tampa, Fla.) placed 13th in the race with a time of 2:19.14.
Simmons scored big points in the 500-yard freestyle thanks to a second-place showing from sophomore Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) with a time of 5:10.79 to edge out classmate Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.), who posted a time of 5:11.68 to finish third. Senior Emmie Lindholm (Sterling, Mass.) also scored for the Sharks in the event with a time of 5:37.39.
Junior Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) clocked in at 1:00.76 to place third in the 100-yard butterfly, while sophomore Kara Smith (Eastham, Mass.) recorded a mark of 1:03.19 to finish 11th in the race for Simmons. List placed third in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.84 in her first NEISDA Championship meet appearance.
The Sharks rounded out the final individual swimming event by watching senior Hannah Plourde (Westfield, Mass.) place sixth with a time of 2:17.96 in the 200-yard individual medley. Senior Julie Nguyen (Salem, Mass.) touched the wall at 2:21.77 to finish 11th, while sophomore Jason Erichsen (Banks, Ore.) came away with a time of 2:23.08 to place 13th. Junior Lindsay Nichols (Kennebunk, Maine) turned in a time of 2:25.17 to place 15th in the race for Simmons.
First year diver Cristina Samaniego (Avon, Conn.) tallied a score of 269.60 in 11 dives to place fifth on the one-meter board for the Sharks.
Simmons returns to the pool tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. for the Day Three Preliminaries.