GNAC Swimming & Diving Report: Week 1

Simmons' Laura Simpson scored 18 individual points for the Sharks on her way to earning GNAC Women's Athlete of the Week honors.

October 22, 2018

(FOR THE WEEK OF OCT. 15-21)

	MEN'S ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Stephen Quinlan, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Sr., Andover, Mass.) Quinlan won the 50-Breast (30.46) and 100-Breast (1:08.82) and swam a leg for the Monks' winning 200-Free relay team against Husson University on Saturday.
	WOMEN'S ATHLETE OF THE WEEK *Laura Simpson, Simmons* (Sr., Perkiomenville, Pa./Boyertown) Simpson scored 18 individual points for the Sharks in the win against Westfield State. She won both or her individual events; the 200 (2:05.44) by just under four seconds and 500 Free (5:42.50) by just over six seconds. She also anchored the 200 Medley Relay, closing the gap on the first place team by 1.5 seconds, but not quite catching the Westfield relay.
	MEN'S ROOKIE OF THE WEEK Steven Johnston, Husson (Fr., Hermon, Maine/Hermon) The first-year won all three individual races that he entered and also helped the Eagles win a relay event. The Herman, Maine native, led off his first intercollegiate meet by swimming the backstroke leg of the 200-yard Medley to combine with freshman Joe Vail (Saco, Maine), senior Caelan Lercone (Waterville, Maine) and freshman Dan Egan (Foxboro, Mass.) on a winning new school record mark of 1:50.10. Johnson led off the relay with a 26.28, breaking program's four-year school record mark in the 50-yard backstroke. The rookie then showed his versatility by winning the 50-yard freestyle by two-seconds with a new school record mark of 22.44, before dominating the 100-yard freestyle with a new school record time of 51.19 to win the event by nearly four-seconds. Johnston then capped off meet by winning the 50-yard butterfly by over two-seconds with his fourth new school record with a time of 26.05. His 27-point effort, helped the Eagles pick up just their second ever first dual meet of the season victory since the men's program was reestablished as a varsity sport after a 39-year hiatus in 2013 with a 112-106 win over Saint Joseph's (Maine).
	WOMEN'S ROOKIE OF THE WEEK Megan Duffy, Norwich (Fr., Shelton, Conn./Sacred Heart Academy) Duffy placed first in the 100 yard breaststroke in 1:12.96 and won the 500 yard freestyle in 5:37.51 in a dual meet at SUNY Potsdam on Saturday. She also won the 200 yard IM in 2:19.31 and swam a leg on the winning 200 yard medley relay team.

WEEK 1 HONOR ROLL

Erin Aucoin, Husson (Fr., Brewer, Maine/Brewer) In her first-ever intercollegiate meet, Aucoin claimed the 1000-yard freestyle in a new school record mark of 11:54.98, winning the event by 46-seconds, the 50 freestyle with a time of 26.81 and the 500-yard freestyle in a new school record mark of 5:49.16, winning the event by 20-seconds in Saturday's dual meet against Saint Joseph's (Maine). She also swam the second leg of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:52.28 as Husson won 140-121, extending their season opener dual meet winning streak to three - the longest in program history.

Alex DiGiacomo, Norwich (Jr., Norfolk, Mass./King Philip Regional) DiGiacomo won the 50 yard freestyle in 22.89 and the 100 yard butterfly in 56.54 during Saturday's season-opening dual meet at SUNY Potsdam.

Matt Gorman, St. Joseph (Conn.) (Fr., Columbia, Conn./E.O. Smith) Finished first in three individual events in the first-ever coed USJ swimming & diving meet hosted by the Blue Jays inside Bruyette Natatorium on Saturday. Took first and set the new program standards in the 50-yard breaststroke (32.92), 50-yard free (25.84), and 100-yard breaststroke (1:16.72).

Ryan Watson, Saint Joseph's (Me.)(Fr., Bangor, Maine) Watson won the 1000-Free by a minute (11:50.91), the 500-Free by over 30 seconds (5:47.61) and the 200-Free (2:04.66) by two seconds against Husson University on Saturday.

Natalie Krieg, Simmons (Fr., Cambridge, Mass./Cambridge, Rindge & Latin) Krieg finished 3rd in both 1-meter and 3-meter diving in the dual meet vs. Westfield. She contributed six points to the Sharks' score. This was her first time ever competing on the 3-meter board, and she finished with a strong score of 140.50.

GNAC SWIMMING & DIVING WEEKLY ARCHIVE (2018-19)

WEEK	MEN'S ATHLETE	WOMEN'S ATHLETE	MEN'S ROOKIE	WOMEN'S ROOKIE
1	Stephen Quinlan, SJC	Laura Simpson, SIM	Steven Johnston, HUS	Megan Duffy, NOR

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.

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