WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons University's Katelyn Quinlan (Haverhill, Mass.) was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Rookie of the Week for the week of January 6-12, it was announced today by the league. 

Quinlan earns the honor for the second time this season after being tabbed for the week of October 21-27. The award marks the fifth time this season that a Shark has earned top rookie weekly honor with first year Meg Driscoll (Haverhill, Mass.) being cited for the weeks of October 14-20 and November 11-17 and Eva Piernas (Hopkinton, N.H.) being selected for the week of December 2-8. Quinlan and Driscoll become the first Simmons teammates to earn multiple GNAC Rookie of the Week accolades since Kerry Fleming (2015-19) and Laura Simpson (2015-19) were each named the top weekly newcomer five times each during the 2015-16 campaign. 

Quinlan earns the honor after scoring a season-high 13 points with first and second place finishes in addition to helping the Sharks place second in the 200-yard medley relay in a double-dual meet at host Colby-Sawyer College with Regis College (Mass.) on January 11. The Haverhill High School product placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a mark of 1:13.79 and added a second-place overall effort in the 50-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 34.57, which was good for a win over Colby-Sawyer. Quinlan swam the breaststroke clip of the 200-yard medley relay to help Simmons post a second-place time of 2:01.19 to Regis, but chalked up a win over Colby-Sawyer. 

The Nursing major has swam primarily in breaststroke events, while recording nine top-five finishes during the season, including victories each in the 50-yard breaststroke and the 100-yard breaststroke. Prior to her win this past weekend, Quinlan's season-best time of 33.67 was good for a triumph in the 50-yard breaststroke vs. Westfield State University on October 26. 

Simmons is currently 5-5 on the season and will return to action on Saturday, January 25 when it travels to South Hadley, Mass. to take on Mount Holyoke College at 12:00 p.m.