WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons College's Maria Soraghan (East Hampstead, N.H.) was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Rookie of the Week for the week of January 1-7, it was announced today by the league.
Soraghan has been named the conference's top rookie a league-high three times this season after being previously named for the weeks of October 23-29 and November 6-12. The honor also marks the fourth time that a Shark was tabbed the top newcomer with first year Haley Summers (Hudson, N.H.) also receiving the award for November 13-19.
Soraghan earns the accolade after winning the only individual event that she entered and helping the team to first and second-place showings in the relay events. The first year dominated the field to win the 200-yard freestyle by more than 12 seconds with a time of 2:01.43. A graduate of Pinkerton Academy, the New Hampshire native opened the meet with the lead backstroke leg of the 200-yard medley relay to contribute to a winning mark of 2:00.54. The rookie capped the meet by swimming the lead leg of the 400-yard freestyle to help her quartet finish second with a time of 4:05.99 for Simmons, which took both top spots in the race.
The International Relations major has been outstanding this season for the Sharks, racking up 130 points as the team's third-leading scorer. Soraghan has won eight events and registered 14 top-three finishes in 16 races in her first collegiate campaign. She has been perfect in the pool in 50 and 100-yard freestyle events, winning all three 50-yard races, including a personal-best time of 24.70 to capture the GNAC Championship in the event on December 2. Her only 100-yard effort also resulted in a GNAC title, during the same weekend, with a time of 53.60. Soraghan scored 74 points to tie for the highest point total at the GNAC Championships, adding second-place showings in the 200-yard freestyle and 50-yard backstroke with personal-record times of 1:55.85 and 28.61, respectively.
Simmons is currently 6-2 on the season and won its 14th straight GNAC Championship in early December. The Sharks return to action on Saturday, January 13 when they host Regis (Mass.) and Colby-Sawyer College for an 11:00 a.m. meet.