Worcester, Mass. - February 17, 2023 - The Springfield College women's swimming and diving team had a standout second day of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships on Friday at WPI. MIT leads the competition with 543 points, followed by Wheaton with 319, while the Pride was a close third with 313 points.
In the first event of the evening, the Pride's 200 free relay team of Mikaili Charlemagne (Casteries, St. Lucia), Natalie Chamberlin (Ellington, Conn.), Erin Kelaher (Tucson, Ariz.), and Kay Shen (Hong Kong) broke one of the program's oldest relay records with a NCAA "B" cut time of 1:34.87, besting the previous time of 1:35.10 that had stood since 2011. With the time, Springfield finished as the conference runner up in the event.
Charlemagne would continue her special night as she was crowned the NEWMAC champion in the 50 freestyle after sprinting to a winning time of 23.18 for the first conference title of her career. Shen followed as a close second with a 23.46 as the Pride claimed the top two spots in the race with a pair of NCAA "B" cuts.
The Pride had a pair of swimmers place in the top 10 of the 200 IM as Elizabeth Fraser (Westfield, Mass.) took third in 2:07.32 and Carolyn Blenk (New Rochelle, N.Y.) raced to a for seventh place following her 2:10.28.
In the 500 free, Emma Savoie (Milford, Conn.) swam a 5:06.71, while on the three-meter board, Megan Crawford (Agawam, Mass.) totaled a 350.60 to take ninth.
Springfield combined for a NCAA "B" cut time of 3:50.36 in the 400 medley relay thanks to the efforts of Blenk, Nina Lamb (Killingworth, Conn.), Charlemagne, and Shen to finish in third and close out the night session.
Day three of the championships will begin at 10:00 tomorrow.
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