NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Bentley University senior Paige Wilde (Naugatuck, Conn./Holy Cross HS) completed a sweep of diving gold at the Northeast-10 Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships as she added the three-meter title to her collection on Saturday at Southern Connecticut State's Hutchinson Natatorium.
Wilde, who won the one-meter Thursday night, posted a score of 437.60 to easily best Saint Rose's Alexa Patnaude, the runner-up with a 383.70. Bentley junior Courtney Stone (Andover, Mass./Andover HS) took third (369.10) after earning a silver in the one-meter, and freshman Kayla Ducharme (Chelmsford, Mass./ Chelmsford HS) was seventh with a 227.25.
Bentley's strength in the diving is one reason the Falcons will go into Sunday's final day of competition in second place, a single point up on third-place Le Moyne College. Assumption seems headed towards a second straight title with 634 points, Bentley has 419, Le Moyne 418 and the host team 391.
Freshman Emily Niemiec (Meriden, Conn./Francis T. Maloney HS) finished second in the 400 yard individual medley with her 4:35.03 second on Bentley's all-time list. She finished about five seconds back of the winner, Assumption rookie Niamh Morgan.
Sophomore Kaitlin McGahie (Boylston, Mass./Tahanto Regional HS) earned her second and third bronze medals of the meet with the first coming with a third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke. Her time of 1:07.47 ranks fifth in program history.
In the final women's event of the night, McGahie swam the anchor leg as Bentley finished third in the 200 free relay with a 1:38.21. She was preceded into the pool by senior Danielle Hellstern (Southbury, Conn./ Pomperaug HS),freshman Jessica Chen (Darien, Conn./Darien HS) and senior Nadine Edwards (Danbury, Conn./Danbury HS).
Hellstern and Edwards placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:55.91 and 1:57.27. Hellstern's effort put her at number five on Bentley's all-time list.
Bentley's other finalist was freshman Anne Warren (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron HS) with a seventh in the 100 butterfly (1:00.38), good for seventh in program history.
Sunday's action gets underway at 10 am.
