WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons College's Elizabeth Bartlett (Richmond, Mass.) was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Rookie of the Week for the week of January 8-14, it was announced today by the league.
The honor marks the second straight week that a Shark has received the award and fifth time this season. First year Maria Soraghan (East Hampstead, N.H.) has been tabbed three times for the weeks of January 1-7, November 6-12 and October 23-29, while classmate Haley Summers (Hudson, N.H.) was named for the week of November 13-19.
Bartlett scored 16/14 points for Simmons after finishing first, second and third/fifth in three individual events during the Sharks' sweep over Regis (Mass.) (209-83) and Colby-Sawyer College (233-35) in a double-dual meet on January 13. The first year turned in a personal-best time of 33.73 to win the 50-yard breaststroke by more than a second and placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a career-best mark of 1:13.80. The Mount Greylock Regional High School graduate capped the day by finishing third against Colby-Sawer and fifth vs. Regis in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 1:09.52.
Bartlett has been one of Simmons' top rookie swimmers this year, recording 13 top-five finishes, including a trio of victories and has accumulated 66 points during the campaign to rank 11th on the team and fourth among first year swimmers. She has competed almost exclusively in breaststroke events and has registered all of her top finishes in the stroke. Bartlett placed fifth in the 50-yard breaststroke at the GNAC Championship in early December and also finished seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke during the same title meet. The Regis/Colby-Sawyer meet marked the second time this season that she has finished second or better in two different events.
The Sharks are currently 8-2 on the season and captured their 14th straight conference title in December. They will return to action on Saturday, January 20 when they head to Standish, Maine to take on host Saint Joseph's College with Western New England University for a 12:00 p.m. meet.