CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Junior Aine Scholand (Albuquerque, N.M.) won the 1000-yard freestyle in the only finals event of the morning and the Simmons University women's swimming & diving team sent 14 swimmers to evening session following the morning preliminaries on Day Three of the New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association Women's Championship at the Al '51 and Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center Pool on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.
Scholand turned in a winning time of 10:14.21 as part of a 1-2 finish in the 1000-yard freestyle for the Sharks. Sophomore Maria Soraghan (East Hampstead, N.H.) clocked in at 10:53.96 to place second, while junior Haley McCurdy (Framingham, Mass.) placed ninth with a mark of 11:26.92 and senior Cassie Vietas (Tampa, Fla.) finished 11th with a time of 11:32.32. The points from the event catapulted Simmons into a slight lead over Roger Williams University, 570.5-568.
The Sharks added more points following the one-meter diving final. Sophomore Sara Manjikian (Belmont, Mass.) scored 328.85 points during an 11-dive set to place fifth and junior Cristina Samaniego (Avon, Conn.) finished seventh with a score of 300.05 to give SU a 615.5-568 advantage.
Simmons heads into the evening final with a strong contingent in the 200-yard freestyle after placing four in the top eight and two more competitors in the bottom eight for entry into the consolation final. Seniors Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) and Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) finished in tandem at the top of the leaderboard with Fleming touching the wall first at 1:56.29 and Simpson finishing second at 1:56.81. Soraghan finished fifth with a time of 1:59.94 and sophomore Olivia Walz (Natick, Mass.) placed sixth with a clip of 2:00.25. Senior Kara Smith (Eastham, Mass.) turned in a time of 2:03.83 to finish 11th, while McCurdy posted a mark of 2:06.37 to finish 15th.
Junior Laura List (Bedford, Mass.) earned a final spot with a fifth place finish in the 100-yard backstroke for the Sharks, following a time of 1:01.23, while Vietas' mark of 1:04.33 placed her 11th and advanced her to the consolation final. Sophomore Elizabeth Bartlett (Richmond, Mass.) will also compete in tonight's finals for Simmons after hitting the wall at 1:10.28 in to finish seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke and senior Jason Erichsen (Banks, Ore.) will compete in the consolation final as the top seed after a ninth-place effort on a time of 1:10.39.
The Sharks were able to grab the final spot in the 200-yard medley relay final with a time of 1:55.00 to place eighth with a quartet of List, Erichsen, sophomore Anna Leedham (Lowell, Mass.) and Soraghan.
Leedham and junior Alex Berg-Pappert (Geneva, N.Y.) both qualified for the consolation final of the 400-yard individual medley for the Sharks. Leedham recorded a time of 4:53.94 to place 10th and Berg-Pappert finished 15th with a mark of 5:18.79. First year Savana Silva (Groveland, Mass.) will also compete in the consolation final after a 15-place showing in the 50-yard butterfly on a time of 28.07.
Simmons will compete in tonight's final at 6:00 p.m.