The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

Babson Park, Mass.-The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) will be represented by 18 student-athletes at the upcoming NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving National Championships.

NEWMAC Champion Coast Guard will send seven representatives to the event with Springfield close behind with six entries. MIT sends five student-athletes to the Championships while Babson rounds out the NEWMAC entries sending one student-athlete to the event.

For Coast Guard, NEWMAC Men's Swimmer of the Year, Bobby Brown (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) leads the way for the Bears. Brown, a five-time All-America, is seeded third in the 200-, 500- and 1650-freestyle events and will also be a part of the 800-freestyle relay team. Other members of the relay team include: Dale Cressman (Marriottsville, Md.), Jim Okorn (Euclid, Ohio) and Jack Shadwick (Campbell Hall, N.Y.), who will also swim the 200-freestyle event.

Making his first appearance at the championships, freshman Timmy Berry (Houston Texas) will compete in the 200 backstroke, the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke (52.01) where he's seeded 14th. Rounding out the competitors for the Bears is Jack Suave (Colorado Springs, Col.) who will compete in the 100-breastsroke and Doug Fallon (Elkton, Md.) who will swim the 200-butterfly.

MIT enters the NCAA championships with five representatives. Freshman Michael Dobson (Houston, Texas) will make his first appearance at nationals currently holding the fifth-fastest times in the nation in both the 500 and 1650 freestyle. Dobson will also be competing in the 200 yard free, where he is seated 17th.

MIT rookie Laurent Charpentier (Aigues-Mortes, France) delivered the 13th-best time for Division III in the 200 free while Rastislav Racz (Bratislava, Slovakia) is seeded fifth in the 100 breast and 12th in the 200 breast. In the relays, MIT will add Jeff Zhou (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Luke Cummings (Sturgeon Bay, Wis.) to the team of Racz and Charpentier, to compete in the 200-medley relay where there are seeded ninth in a time of 1:32.98. For the freestyle relays, Dobson will team with Zhou, Charpentier and Cummings.

For Springfield, senior Roy Burch (Warwick, Bermuda) will cap a great career with the Pride by competing in several events at the NCAA's. Individually, he'll compete in the 50 freestyle, the 100 freestyle, and the 100 backstroke while Greg Pearsall (Litchfield, Conn.) will also compete in the 50 free where he is seeded 12th. NEWMAC Diver of the Year Ben Casavant (Acton, Mass.) returns to the NCAA Championshps after claming both the one and three meter diving events at the NEWMAC Championships.

Springfield will also compete in both the 200- and 400-freestyle relays. Entering the Championships, the 200 freestyle relay team of Matt Manoni (Brookfield, Mass.), Andrew Blakesley (West Springfield, Mass.), Pearsall, and Burch is seeded third with a time of 1:22.63 while the 400-freestyle relay team of Manoni, Burch, Pearsall, and Anthony Bruno (Southbury, Conn.) enters the meet as the 12th seed with a time of 3:04.62.

Rounding out the NEWMAC entries, Babson will send sophomore diver Aaron Paradis (Norwich, Conn.) to the Championships for the first time in his young career. Paradis placed third off both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards at the conference championships this winter and has the distinction of being Babson's first male diver in over 20 years to compete at nationals.

The 2008 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships will be held from March 20-22 at Miami University's Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center in Oxford, Ohio. The event is hosted by the College of Wooster.

NEWMAC Student-Athletes to Compete at NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving National Championship