Submitted by Dominick Delello, St. Michael’s College.
(Feb. 11, 2019) — The Saint Michael’s College men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams concluded their season by breaking nine school records across the four-day Northeast-10 Conference Championship last week. The Purple Knight men finished sixth among seven schools with 279 points, their best placement since 2014-15 and third-highest point total in 15 championships, while the women finished ninth out of nine schools with 193 points. Junior Connor Hopkins (Windham, N.H./Windham) had a hand in breaking five school records and won the 50-yard freestyle on Friday, becoming the first male swimmer in program history to win an event at the NE10 Championship and in the process landing NE10 All-Conference first team laurels.
During the opening day of competition of Thursday, senior Patty Kohn (Weston, Conn./Greenwich) took eighth place in the 1,000 free (10:51.31), eclipsing her own three-month-old school record by 0.68 seconds. Kohn also led off for the Purple Knights’ top 800 free relay, which finished ninth (8:08.70). Juniors Lauren Giampietro (Watertown, Conn./Watertown) and Sarah White (Lakeville, Mass./Apponequet Regional) and sophomore Meg Geschwind (Rochester, Minn./Mayo) rounded out the rest of the quartet. For the men, senior Tim Kinville (Colchester, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) claimed fourth among nine competitors in the three-meter diving trials with 256.70 points, becoming the first Purple Knight male to take part in the event at a championship in nine years. Jake Stamas ’10 and Max O’Brien ’13 had been the last to do so during the 2010 NE10 Championship, when they netted 328.80 and 344.60 points, respectively. Senior Pat Thornton (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence), junior Aidan Mulderrig (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side), sophomore Payton Stewart (Keene, N.H./Keene) and first-year Nate Imbergamo (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) partnered to finish fifth in the 800 free relay (7:22.03), while Imbergamo and fellow first-year Sean McGurn (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) finished 14th and 15th in the 1,000 free with times of 10:21.19 and 10:25.92, respectively.
On Friday, Hopkins won the 50 free (20.85) as the top seed, lowering his own year-old school for the second time on the day after his opening 50 free leg of the 200 free relay trimmed the record to 20.89. The 200 free relay team of Hopkins, Mulderrig, Stewart, and first-year William Sullivan (Arlington, Va./Bishop O’Connell) finished sixth, but lowered their three-month-old program record by 1.89 seconds (1:26.31). In the 400-yard medley relay Hopkins, McGurn, Stewart, and Thornton sided to finish seventh (3:35.04), also shattering a three-month-old standard by 1.84 seconds. Hopkins set another record during his opening 100-yard backstroke leg, clocking in at 51.37 to drop his time by 0.75 ticks. Kinville finished eighth in the three-meter diving event (244.85), coming within 2.1 points of seventh, while Thornton claimed 12th (5:00.58) and Imbergamo finished 14th (5:04.56) in the 500 free. The Purple Knights’ second 200 free relay quartet of McGurn, seniors Seamus Butler (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) and Jacob Sutton (Tyngsboro, Mass./Tyngsboro) and first-year Myron Prograis (Etters, Pa./Cedar Cliff) placed 14th (1:34.14), while Mulderrig took 15th in the 200-yard individual medley (2:03.93). For the women, first-year Maggie King (Clinton, Conn./Mercy) had the highest finish of the day, taking eighth in the one-meter diving event (199.40). Two relay foursomes earned ninth-place showings, with seniors Meg Flanagan (Middletown, R.I./The Prout School/Boston College), Elizabeth Doherty (Dedham, Mass./Dedham), and Tess Grimaldi (Higganum, Conn./Haddam-Killingworth) and sophomore Leah Benoit (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) competing in the 200 free relay (1:45.95), while Giampietro, Grimaldi, Kohn, and White rounded out the 400 medley relay (4:10.68) team. Kohn also claimed 13th in the 500 free (5:16.15).
On Saturday, Hopkins again felled his own 100 back school record, set just the night before, with a 51.26 swim in the morning prelims. He finished fourth in the evening finals (51.73) and led off for the sixth-place 200 medley relay (1:38.12) team that included Butler, Sullivan, and Thornton, and which missed a year-old program record by only 0.09 seconds. Kinville capped his career by taking sixth in the one-meter diving competition (274.60). Mulderrig broke his own year-old school record in the 400 IM during trials by 1.05 seconds (4:23.88) before finishing 12th in the evening finals (4:29.01). McGurn and Butler both took part in the 100-yard breaststroke finals, with the former placing 12th (1:02:43) and the latter coming in 15th (1:03.05). The Purple and Gold’s second 200 medley relay team of McGurn, Prograis, Sutton, and sophomore Dan Fortier (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) claimed 13th (1:47.03). Prograis took 15th in the 100 back finals (1:01.66), while Thornton took 15th in the 100-yard butterfly (54.12). For the women, Giampietro placed sixth in the 100 breast (1:08.07) and 13th in the 400 IM (4:44.70), breaking her own school record in the latter by 1.02 seconds. Giampietro also helped the Purple Knights’ top 200 medley relay take ninth (1:53.23) alongside Grimaldi, Kohn, and White. The 200 medley relay B squad placed 19th (2:01.60) with Benoit, Doherty, Flanagan, and Geschwind teaming up.
On Sunday, Hopkins lowered his own three-month-old school record in the 200 back during morning trials (1:54.79) by 2.21 seconds, taking second in prelims and fourth in the evening finals (1:55.94). Imbergamo claimed 10th in the 1,650 free (17:10.04), while Stewart was 16th in the 100 free (49.09). Fortier, Mulderrig, and Thornton all qualified for the 200 fly finals with Thornton taking 13th (2:03.08), Mulderrig 15th (2:07.10), and Fortier 16th (2:11.84). McGurn captured 14th in the 200 breast (2:19.07), while Hopkins, Mulderrig, Stewart, and Thornton joined for a seventh-place showing in the 400 free relay (3:15.40). Butler, Imbergamo, Prograis, and Sullivan sided to finish 14th in the 400 free relay as the second Purple Knight team. For the women, Giampietro set her second school record of the weekend by defeating her own year-old mark in the 200 breast by 0.11 seconds during the morning trials (2:28.80). She finished 10th in the finals (2:29.73). Kohn posted a sixth-place finish in the 1,650 free (18:09.95), while White grabbed 15th in the 200 fly (2:17.37). The quartet of Giampietro, Grimaldi, Kohn, and White notched ninth place in the 400 free relay, while Benoit, Doherty, Flanagan, and Geschwind placed 18th (3:59.21) as the B squad.
