WORCESTER, MASS. – Binghamton University stole the spotlight on day one of the 2015 America East Swimming & Diving Championship. The Bearcats took first place in two of the three events Thursday evening, and head into day two with lots of momentum. However, despite taking the top spot twice, it’s the New Hampshire Wildcats hold the slim points lead over BU.
The first scoring final was the 800-yard freestyle relay, and first place was secured by the two-time defending America East champions New Hampshire Wildcats. The quartet of freshmen Elizaveta Baykova and Jessica Harper, and seniors Katie Mann and Oneida Cooper finished with in a time of 7:20.32; the mark breaks the WPI pool record that was set by the Wildcats at last year’s championship.
UMBC and Vermont rounded out the top three, finishing in the relay in 7:28.94 and 7:31.94.
The 1-meter dive saw a senior who took a year off last year rise above the rest. Senior Imani Williams won the event, posting a season best score of 262.55. Last year’s champion and Most Outstanding Diver Coco Darelius came in third place with a tally of 243.85.
The final event of day one was the 200-yard medley relay, and the Binghamton Bearcats captured the close race just 22 hundredths of a second in front of runner-up UMBC. BU anchor, senior Caitlin Kelly, touched the board at 1:42.27, with UMBC’s caboose Kristie Lanford clocking in at 1:42.99. Kelly’s teammates in victory were juniors Claudia Coccaro and Selina Ng, and senior Corinne Zotter.
Here are the team rankings through the first three events:
1. University of New Hampshire: 72
2. Binghamton University: 70
3. UMBC: 68
4. University of Vermont: 62
5. University of Maine: 56
Day two of the America East Swimming & Diving Championship begins tomorrow at 10:00 AM with the 500-yard freestyle prelim trails. Watch the America East Swimming & Diving Championship live on Americaeast.TV, and read up on all the days action and follow the live stats at Championship Central on AmericaEast.com.