NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Sophomore Amanda Le (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford HS) and a pair of freshmen, Nadine Edwards (Danbury, Conn./Danbury HS) and Paige Wilde (Naugatuck, Conn./Holy Cross HS), had the top individual performances for the Bentley University women's swimming and diving team Saturday during the final day of competition at the Northeast-10 Championships at Southern Connecticut State University.
Each earned a bronze medal while helping Bentley wrap up second place in the eight-team championships. Bentley, with a total of 670 points, finished 295 back of Southern Connecticut, which claimed its ninth straight championship. The College of Saint Rose (587) and Assumption College (526) followed the Falcons on the team scoreboard.
Edwards, who won gold in the 500 yard freestyle on Thursday, took third place in the grueling 1,650 free, with her time of 17:47.03 a school record and an NCAA "B" cut. It bettered the record that Emily Cheng had owned for the past ten years by 22.76 seconds.
Le was third in the 200 yard breaststroke, with her time of 2:24.06 also a "B" cut. Junior All-American Jessica Hodsdon (Brewer, Maine/Brewer HS) also recorded a "B" cut in the event as she was fifth in 2:24.60.
Wilde led a strong Bentley showing off the three-meter board, registering a score of 382.13 points. Junior Abby Mathews (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford HS) was fifth with a 367.06, and the 341.59 recorded by junior Shelly D'Aleo (Enfield, Conn./Suffield Academy) was good for eighth place.
Bentley also placed three in the top eight in the 100 free with sophomore Kellen Power (San Jose, Calif./Valley Christian HS) leading the Falcons with a fourth-place finish, with a time of 54.72 seconds. Freshman Danielle Hellstern (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug HS) and junior Monika Drogosz (Unionville, Conn./Farmington HS) followed in sixth and seventh, respectively. Hellstern touched in 55.10 seconds and Drogosz 0.19 seconds later.
The Falcons wrapped up the meet with a silver medal in the 400 free relay, with Power, Hellstern, Drogosz and Edwards combining for a time of 3:37.57.
During the three-day meet, Bentley won two gold medals, Edwards in the 500 free and Hodsdon in the 100 breaststroke.
The New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Championships are next for the Falcons with the diving at UMass-Dartmouth next weekend and the swimming at the Upper Valley Aquatics Center in White River Junction, Vt. the following weekend.
