KINGSTON, R.I. -- Two Simmons College women's swimming & diving records fell and 11 swimmers and a pair of relays teams qualified to compete in tonight's finals on Day Two of the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association Championship at the Tootell Aquatics Center on the campus of host University of Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I.
Simmons will send multiple swimmers to compete in all six individual events in tonight's finals and consolation finals, including at least two swimmers in four finals heats. The Sharks also boast the top seed in two events.
Sophomore Aine Scholand (Albuquerque, N.M.) leads three swimmers into tonight's 500-yard freestyle finals after turning in the top time with a mark of 5:03.39, while first year Maria Soraghan (East Hampstead, N.H.) clocked in at a personal-record 5:16.32 to place third. Junior Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) finished sixth with a time of 5:23.74. Sophomore Haley McCurdy (Framingham, Mass.) will compete in the event's consolation final after finishing 14th with a time of 5:41.68.
Scholand and Soraghan were a part of the Simmons quartet that posted a time of 1:39.50 along with sophomore Laura List (Bedford, Mass.) and junior Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) to finish second to qualify for tonight's 200-yard freestyle relay final.
Senior Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) won the 50-yard breaststroke to take the top seed in tonight's final with a time of 30.47, while first year Elizabeth Bartlett's (Richmond, Mass.) personal-best time of 31.89 was good for sixth. First year Olivia Walz (Natick, Mass.) found a spot in the event's consolation final with a personal-record time of 33.64 to finish 15th.
List qualified for the 50-yard freestyle final with a second-place effort and personal-record time of 24.58 and first year Emily Buttafuoco (Londonderry, N.H.) joined her with a seventh-place time of 25.45 to set her own personal-best mark. First year Haley Summers (Hudson, N.H.) will compete in the consolation final with a time of 26.01, which was good for 15th.
Fleming will compete as an individual in tonight's finals as well after posting a personal-best time of 2:11.94 to place fourth in the 200-yard backstroke, while senior Lindsay Nichols (Kennebunk, Maine) grabbed a spot in the consolation final with a time of 2:24.42 to finish 16th.
Junior Jason Erichsen (Banks, Ore.) and Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) both broke school records, while qualifying for the final in their respective events. Erichsen's time of 2:15.02 was good for fifth in the 200-yard individual medley and eclipsed the former Simmons record of 2:15.46 set by Jen Collins (2010-14) in 2013. Three other swimmers join Erichsen to compete in the 200-IM tonight to give the Sharks two events with four swimmers competing. First year Anna Leedham (Lowell, Mass.) joined Erichsen in the final with a seventh-place mark of 2:16.65, while junior Charlotte Rivard (Norwood, Mass.) competes in the consolation final on a time of 2:24.51 that placed her 14th and McCurdy qualified for the consolation final on a career-best time of 2:27.13 to place 16th. Morris' time of 59.68 in the 100-yard butterfly clipped her own standard by almost three tenths of a second and earned her a fifth-place finish and a spot in tonight's final. Leedham will compete in the event's consolation final after a 10th-place effort on a time of 1:02.58.
The Sharks wrapped the swimming events with a second-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay with Erichsen swimming the lead backstroke, followed by Giraldi's breaststroke, Morris in the butterfly and List closing out with the freestyle anchor leg to combine on a time of 4:02.96.
Simmons returns to action tonight at 6:00 p.m. for Day Two Finals.