NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A silver medal in the meet-closing 400 free relay, following a first-place finish in the consolation finals of the same event, enabled Bentley University to overcome Assumption University and finish second overall in the 2022 Northeast-10 Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at Southern Connecticut's Hutchinson Natatorium.
Southern Connecticut captured the team championship with 932 points and Bentley edged the Greyhounds, 711-710, to cap off an outstanding weekend that included 10 gold medals, seven silvers, three bronze medals, five school records and one meet record.
In the finals of the 400 free, juniors Dariana Gonzales (Stamford, Conn./Westhill HS) and Kate Galvin (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern HS) bookended a quartet that also included sophomore Emma Hapkiewicz (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor HS) and freshman Jordan Nuzback (Fairview, Pa./ McDowell HS). In the race for second, they edged Assumption by 0.97 seconds. That came after seniors Rona Mejiritski (Bowling Green, Ohio/Bowling Green HS), Taylor Gangi (Waltham, Mass./ Waltham HS) and Hanna Ryan (North Royalton, Ohio / Brecksville Broadview Heights HS) teamed with junior Marissa Adamo (Hackettstown, N.J./Mount Olive HS) to win the consolation final by 0.04 seconds and earn an additional four points.
Among Bentley's three golds earned on Sunday was one in the one-meter diving where junior Mary Huminski (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor HS) edged freshman teammate Hilla Almog (Wayland, Mass./Wayland HS) by less than five points, 435.0-431.4. Huminski was named the Women's Diver of the Meet for the second time after capturing both diving competitions, as she also did in 2020.
Hapkiewicz opened Sunday night's action by winning the grueling 1650 freestyle in 17:12.89, an NCAA "B" cut and a school record by 15 seconds. It also broke the meet record by more than three seconds. In the championship's three distance races, she broke the Bentley record and achieved a "B" cut in each while earning two golds and a silver. Her weekend also included a gold in the 800 free relay.
Galvin, who finished the championships with five golds and two silvers in seven events, broke her own school record by 0.32 seconds while winning the 100 free in 51.85, an NCAA "B" cut. She took first in both the prelims and the finals by more than a second.
In the 200 butterfly, Mejiritski and Nuzback finished second and third, respectively, with times of 2:08.30 and 2:11.09. Nuzback earned six medals during her first NE10 Championships, finishing with two gold and three silver in addition to the bronze in the fly.
Bentley's final medal of the night came from sophomore Emily Blatt (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) with a third in the 200 breaststroke (2:25.80).
Gonzales scored seventh-place points in the 200 back after reaching the wall in 2:09.93.
The second-place finish marks the 11th straight year in which the Falcons have been in the top three.
