Women's Swimming Places Second At GNAC Championship

WOMEN'S SWIMMING FINISHES SECOND AT GNAC CHAMPIONSHIP

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BOSTON, MA, Dec. 1, 2007 - Elms College sophomores Marie Waterhouse (East Longmeadow, MA) and Liz Walker (Holyoke, MA) each won a pair of individual titles and also swam legs of the winning 200-yard medley relay team to help the Blazers place second in Saturday's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's swimming meet at Simmons College.

Host Simmons tallied 198 points to outdistance Elms College (113), Wheelock (98), St. Joseph's (CT) (74), St. Joseph's (ME) (65), Norwich (42) and Husson (14) in the seven-team championship.

"The key for us was our depth," Elms College head coach Bill Tyler noted. "We had finalists in every event, and if you look at the final standings, we only beat Wheelock by 15 points for second place."

With their first place individual finishes and efforts in the 200-yard relay, Waterhouse and Walker combined to score 54 points for the Blazers, who tied the program's best-ever team finish at the GNAC Championship.

Waterhouse was victorious in the 50-yard backstroke and set a new GNAC Championship record en route to winning the 100-yard backstroke (1:06.01).

Walker, meanwhile, earned individual titles with first place finishes in both the 50-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke.

Waterhouse and Walker combined with senior Kaity Jo Bryll (East Hartland, CT) and freshman Theresa Pitassi (Naugatuck, CT) to earn championship honors in the 200-yard medley relay.

Sophomores Kathleen Towle (Brockton, MA) and Nicole Denette (Chicopee, MA) placed second and fourth, respectively, in the 1,650-yard freestyle.

Towle also placed sixth in the 500-yard freestyle and later teamed with freshmen Alison McBride (East Providence, RI), Dariana Diaz (Dorchester, MA) and junior Katelyn Wasgatt (Worcester, MA) to finish sixth in the meet-ending 200-yard freestyle relay.

"Those finishes by Kat and Nicole in the 1,650 were crucial for us and our final relay gave us solid points," Coach Tyler said. "We received a very good all-around team effort from everybody today."

Bryll was also solid, as she earned a combined nine points in the 50- yard and 100-yard freestyle events, while sophomore Lindsay Koladicz (Wethersfield, CT) earned five points for Elms College with her fourth place finish in the finals of the one-meter diving (249.85).

The Blazers return to dual-meet action at Mount Holyoke on Wednesday, December 5. Meet time is set for 7:00 p.m.