KINGSTON, R.I. -- Sophomore Aine Scholand (Albuquerque, N.M.) broke both the school and meet record in the 500-yard freestyle to help the Simmons College women's swimming & diving team to a second-place showing after the second day of the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Championship at the Tootell Aquatics Center on the campus of host University of Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I.
The Sharks sit with a score of 561 points, trailing Roger Williams University's total of 580 after two days of competition.
Scholand won the 500-yard freestyle by more than 11 seconds and broke the NEISDA mark by just over two seconds with a time of 4:56.98 to clip the former mark of 4:59.04 set by Gordon College's India Boland in 2015. The winning time also erased Scholand's school-record mark of 5:01.81 set in December and was good for the NCAA Championship 'B' cut. Simmons took first, third and fourth in the event with first year Maria Soraghan (East Hampstead, N.H.) placing third with a personal-best time of 5:09.16 and junior Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) hitting the wall next at 5:16.97.
Senior Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) successfully defended her title from a year ago, winning the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 30.32. First year Elizabeth Bartlett (Richmond, Mass.) placed seventh in the race for the Sharks with a time of 32.22.
Junior Jason Erichsen (Banks, Ore.) broke the second school record of the night for Simmons, shattering the standard that the third-year swimmer set in the morning's preliminaries by over two seconds with a time of 2:12.57 to finish fourth in the 200-yard individual medley. First year Anna Leedham (Lowell, Mass.) finished sixth in the race with a time of 2:16.73.
Junior Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) turned in a second-place effort in the 200-yard backstroke with a personal-record time of 2:11.41 in an event that she has not competed in until this season. Sophomore Laura List (Bedford, Mass.) also registered a second-place showing, posting a personal-record mark of 24.15 in the 50-yard freestyle for the Sharks, while first year Emily Buttafuoco (Londonderry, N.H.) finished sixth with a time of 25.52.
Senior Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) placed fifth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.38 after setting a new school standard of 59.68 in the morning's preliminaries.
Simmons finished second by less than a tick on the clock in both relays for the night. Fleming led off the 200-yard freestyle relay, followed by Scholand, Giraldi and anchored by List to combine on a time of 1:38.75 to finish out of first by less than four-tenths of a second. The Sharks closed the night by placing second in the 400-yard medley relay as well. Fleming opened with the backstroke, before Giraldi's breaststroke leg and Morris' butterfly clip. List finished again for Simmons to post a time of 3:59.37 for the quartet.
The Sharks also got valuable points in the consolation finals with Leedham winning the 100-yard butterfly consolation final to place ninth overall with a personal-best time of 1:01.07, while sophomore Haley McCurdy (Framingham, Mass.) finished second in her 500-yard freestyle heat to place 10th overall on a time of 5:31.33 to shatter her personal-best mark. First year Olivia Walz (Natick, Mass.) clocked in at 33.74 in the 50-yard breaststroke consolation final to place 15th overall and senior Lindsay Nichols (Kennebunk, Maine) placed 15th overall in the 200-yard backstroke with a personal-best time of 2:22.54. First year Haley Summers (Hudson, N.H.) also registered an overall finish of 15th in the consolation final of the 50-yard freestyle with a mark of 25.99, before McCurdy did the same in the 200-yard individual medley on a personal-record time of 2:25.48.
First year diver Sara Manjikian (Belmont, Mass.) scored 331.20 points on 11 dives in the morning preliminaries, while sophomore Cristina Samaniego (Avon, Conn.) finished with a score of 264.85 for Simmons. Both divers will compete in tomorrow's one-meter final.
The Sharks return to action tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. for Day Three's preliminaries.