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Feb 24, 2008

Springfield College Wins Eighth-Straight NEWMAC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship

WELLESLEY, Mass. - With a win in the final event of the evening, Springfield College sealed the 2008 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Swimming and Diving Championship.

The Pride edged out second-place finisher MIT by six and a half points to win their eight-straight title.

Springfield finished with 707.5 points to MIT's 701. Wheaton College was a close third with 645 points while host Wellesley College took fourth with a score of 487.5.

Leading off the evening session, Nicole O'Keefe (Los Angeles, Calif.) picked up her second win of the weekend with a first-place finish in the 1650 free. Her time of 17:41.52 meets the NCAA B-cut mark while runner-up Kimberly Shadwick (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) of Coast Guard also hit a B-cut time, swimming a 17:44.01.

Next up was the 200-backstroke where Springfield's Kallie Pottle (Brewer, Maine) notched her second individual win of the meet. Her time of 2:07.39 meets the NCAA B-cut mark. Also hitting a B-cut mark, MIT's Amy Jacobi (Cranbury, N.J.) racked up her second individual first-team All-Conference honor with a time of 53.15 in the 100-free.

Taking the title in the 200-breaststroke was Moira Price (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) of Springfield. Her 2:19.32 breaks the NEWMAC record she set in the 2007 Championships and is also an NCAA A-cut time.

Swimming the 200-fly, Marly Pineda (Bosque Farms, N.M.) picked up the first win of the meet for Smith. Her 2:12.72 beat her 2007 Championship time by just under one second.

In three-meter diving, two-time NCAA National Champion Doria Holbrook (Yakima, Wash.) turned in an impressive 593.30-point performance en route to her third NEWMAC title in the event. Her point total currently stands as the top score in the nation and also shatters both school and NEWMAC records.

Going into the final event of the night, the 400-free relay, Springfield held a slim four and a half point margin over MIT. After the Engineers jumped out to an early lead in the event, Price, the anchor of the Pride team, turned in swim of 51.65 second to seal the win for the Springfield foursome, also consisting of Aimee Doe (Haverhill, Mass.), Lianne Nihan (Reading, Mass.) and Pottle. Their final time of 3:34.81 bested their preliminary mark by nearly 17 seconds.

Several NEWMAC athletes will now await official NCAA Championship selections to be announced on Friday, February 29th. The 2008 NCAA Division III Championships will be held March 13-15 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

For complete NEWMAC Championship results, click here.

 
Team Standings
Springfield 707.5
MIT  701
Wheaton  645
Wellesley  487.5
Coast Guard  343
Smith 283
Babson  221
Clark  184
Mount Holyoke  169
WPI 134



Event Winners/First Team All-Conference
1650 Free  Nicole O'Keefe, MIT  17:41.52+
200 Back Kallie Pottle, Springfield  2:07.39+
100 Free  Amy Jacobi, MIT  53.15+
200 Breast Moira Price, Springfield  2:19.32*
200 Fly   Marly Pineda, Smith 2:12.72
Three-Meter Diving Doria Holbrook, MIT 593.30*!
400 Free Relay  Springfield College
(Aimee Doe, Lianne Nihan, Kallie Pottle, Moira Price)
3:34.81


* - New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship record.
+ - NCAA "B"/provisional standard.
! - NCAA "A" standard.