HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 28, 2011) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women’s swimming team finished sixth at the 2011 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Swimming and Diving Championships last week, breaking into the top 10 for the first time in program history. Stevens finished with a team total 184 points and senior Laura Barito won the National Championship in the 50-yard freestyle to become the first NCAA champ in the history of Stevens.
Emory University won the title with a team total of 614, and rounding out the top five was Denison University (428), Williams College (362), Kenyon College (351), and The College of New Jersey (198). Ithaca College, the only other Empire 8 school to place, earned 41 points and took 21st. A total of 54 institutions earned points at the championships.
Stevens sent nine student-athletes to the championships – seniors Barito, Gabrielle Czernik, and Amanda Nauman, juniors Hayley Hatfield and Sian Pearson, sophomores Marissa Douglas and Allison Henning, and freshmen Megan Lisbon and Louise Moores.
Day 1 – Barito headlined the first day of competition with her win in the 50-yard freestyle to become the Ducks’ first-ever NCAA Champion. She took fourth in the prelims before turning in a perfect race to win the title with a school-record time of 22.87.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Czernik, Douglas, Moores, and Barito placed fifth in the prelims and finals to earn All-America honors. The quartet also broke and re-broke the school-record with times of 1:44.65 in the prelims and 1:44.10 in the finals.
Day 2 – The 200-yard freestyle relay team carded a 1:34.00 in taking third in the prelims before finishing fourth in the finals (1:34.11). The prelim time was good for a new school-record as Hatfield, Henning, Moores, and Barito all received All-America nods. Pearson took 22nd in the 200-yard freestyle with a school-record time of 1:52.99, while Lisbon, Czernik, Moores, and Barito teamed to turn in a 3:49.78 in the 400-yard medley relay prelims. That quartet returned in the finals to set a new school-record (3:48.75) and take seventh place to earn All-America accolades.
Day 3 – The 800-yard freestyle relay team finished in eighth place to earn All-America honors as Nauman, Barito, Hatfield, and Pearson set a new program-record with their time of 7:33.06. Nauman set a new program-record with her 2:04.97 in the 200-yard butterfly prelims before taking 16th in the finals to earn the honorable mention All-America honor.
Moores posted the 12th-best time in the country in the 100-yard backstroke (57.05) to earn honorable mention All-America honors.
Day 4 – Barito touched at 49.97 in the 100-yard freestyle prelims to break her own school-record before finishing third in the final to record her second individual All-America nod of the event. Pearson, Hatfield, Moores, and Barito broke the school-record twice, finishing third in the prelims and finals to earn All-America nods in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The best time came in the finals, 3:24.81.
In total, Stevens had 22 All-America nods, two honorable mention All-America nods, and broke nine school-records.