KINGSTON, R.I. - Junior Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) won her second event in as many days and set another school record this evening, while the Simmons College women's swimming and diving team strengthened its hold on second place at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association Championship at the Tootell Aquatic Center on the campus of University of Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I.
The Sharks widened the gap between themselves and third-place foe Keene State College with a score of 836 to the Owls' 745. Roger Williams University leads all teams with 1009 points.
Giraldi won the 100-yard breaststroke with a school-record time of 1:06.18, eclipsing the old mark set by Shylee Stewart in 2014 by just over five-tenths of a second. Giraldi's second gold medal of the meet makes her just the third competitor in school history to win multiple events at the NEISDA Championship. Senior Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M.) also earned gold with her victory in the 200-yard freestyle with a mark of 1:53.54. The win is the second title for her as well in the meet, thus making her the first Shark to win multiple NEISDA events in two different meets.
Junior Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) scored a second-place effort in the 50-yard butterfly after posting a time of 26.78 to shave .16 seconds off her own school standard.
Giraldi and Morris contributed to another school record as well, helping Simmons place second and post a new program mark in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:48.07 to eclipse the former mark by nearly seven tenths of a second. First year Laura List (Bedford, Mass.) opened the race with the backstroke leg with Giraldi taking over on the breaststroke, followed by Morris' butterfly and anchored by sophomore Kerry Fleming's (Northampton, Mass.) freestyle.
Fleming also scored big points with a second-place finish to Swisher in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:56.22. The Sharks also received points in the event from senior Sarah Price (New York, N.Y.), who came from behind to win her consolation heat and place ninth overall with a time of 2:02.35. Senior Julie Nguyen (Salem, Mass.) finished 11th with a mark of 2:04.11 and sophomore Kara Smith (Eastham, Mass.) clocked in at 2:04.76 to finish 13th.
Senior Hannah Plourde (Westfield, Mass.) outperformed her seeding in the 400-yard individual medley and placed fifth with a time of 4:52.98. Junior Abigail Gonzalez (Kennesaw, Ga.) registered a 13th-place finish in the 400-IM with a time of 5:09.29.
List also scored as an individual for Simmons, hitting the wall at 1:02.03 to win her consolation final heat in the 100-yard backstroke and finish ninth overall. Sophomore Jason Erichsen (Banks, Ore.) also got on the board for the Sharks, finishing 14th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:13.30.
Simmons returns to the pool tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. for the preliminaries on Day Four of the championship meet.