DAY FOUR RESULTS

BOSTON, Mass. (Feb. 25, 2012) – After nearly three days of staying within striking distance of Central Connecticut State, Saint Francis finally pulled ahead of the Blue Devils in the second-to-last event of the 2011-12 Northeast Conference Championships.

And, after a third-place finish in the night's final event – the 400 free relay – the Red Flash was lifting its third trophy in as many seasons.

Saint Francis raked in 55 points in the 200 butterfly, led by Libby Francis (Dundee, Scotland/Grove Academy) who took silver with a time of 2:05.43.  The huge point total gave the Red Flash its first points lead since the opening day of competition, 716-713.

With nothing less than a league title on the line, the stage was set for the 20th and final event of the four-day-long event.  Bryant took home the gold in the 400 free relay with the Blue Devils less than a second behind in second.

With a third-place finish, the Saint Francis contingent of Elise Lofgren, Jennifer Demjanenko (New Albany, Ohio/Gahanna-Lincoln), Megan Cotugno and Alicia Ford (Whitney Point, N.Y./Whitney Point) sealed a thrilling one-point win over Central Connecticut State, 748-747.

“What a great way to finish the season,” said head coach Patrick Gallagher, who garnered NEC Coach of the Year accolades for the second time in three seasons.  “This was a total team effort from the first event through the last relay.”

“I am so proud of the women on this team. There were a lot of times during the week where they could have lost focus but didn't – and we obviously needed every point!”

The evening's events began with Collins pocketing gold in the grueling 1650 freestyle, finishing first with a time of 16:55.89.  Teammate Kathleen Lyon (King George, Va./King George) took the third place on the podium with a time of 17:20.50.

In the 200 backstroke Rebecca Peer (Chelsea, Quebec/Philemon Wright) finished third with a time of 2:03.27 to chalk up a valuable 16 points toward the team cause.

Ford successfully defended her title in the 100 freestyle with a time of 50.61, while another Red Flash swimmer found herself at the top of the podium as Löfgren, took first in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:16.56.

Over the course of the meet, seven NEC records were broken – four of those were by Red Flash swimmers.



2011-12 SFU Individual Champions

1650 Freestyle – Collins – 16:55.89
100 Freestyle – Ford – 50.61
200 Breaststroke – Löfgren – 2:16.56
100 Breaststroke – Löfgren – 1:03.01% 
100 Butterfly – Francis – 56.58
400 Medley Relay – Peer, Löfgren, Francis and Ford – 3:46.64 %
200 IM – Löfgren – 2:03.19
200 Medley Relay – Peer, Löfgren, Francis and Ford – 1:43.81 %
800 Free Relay – Collins, Löfgren, Ford and Demjanenko – 7:25.25 %

% denotes NEC record