Submitted by Josh Kessler, Saint Michael’s College.
(Feb. 4, 2019) — COLCHESTER, Vt. – The Saint Michael’s College men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams conclude their 2018-19 seasons at this week’s four-day Northeast-10 Conference Championship, which begins on Thursday at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts.
Both Purple Knight teams are under their ninth year of guidance by head coach Eileen Hall. In a coaches’ poll that was released today by the conference office, the women were predicted to finish eighth among the nine squads at the NE10 Championship, while the men were slated to place sixth out of seven. The women totaled 23 points to hold off Adelphi University (20), while Assumption College (68), which won three of the past five titles, topped the poll. The Saint Michael’s men claimed 16 points, edging Adelphi by a single point, while Bentley University totaled 41 points to place first.
The Purple and Gold men, who were seventh at last year’s NE10 meet, won the mid-November North Country Invitational this winter while going 4-4 in dual action, their best showing in nine seasons. Junior Connor Hopkins (Windham, N.H./Windham), who took third in the 50-yard freestyle at last year’s NE10 Championship, leads the Purple Knights in individual (15), relay (11) and total (26) victories. First-year Nate Imbergamo (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) is second in solo wins (11) while matching sophomore Payton Stewart (Keene, N.H./Keene) for second in combined triumphs (14). First-years Sean McGurn (Braintree, Mass./Braintree) and William Sullivan (Arlington, Va./Bishop O’Connell) have both turned in 12 total victories, while senior diver Tim Kinville (Colchester, Vt./Missisquoi Valley Union) is third in individual wins (7).
On the women’s side, Saint Michael’s, which took eighth of 10 schools at the 2018 NE10 Championship, went 3-6 this season while also winning the North Country Invitational. Senior Patty Kohn (Weston, Conn./Greenwich), who carries 94 career victories, leads the squad in solo (18) and overall (30) wins, while junior Sarah White (Lakeville, Mass./Apponequet Regional) is tops in relay wins (14) while standing second in total triumphs (22). Classmate Lauren Giampietro (Watertown, Conn./Watertown) has 11 individual, 10 relay and 21 combined wins, and senior Tess Grimaldi (Higganum, Conn./Haddam-Killingworth) turned in 12 relay wins among her 16 total victories.
The NE10 Championship begins with an evening session on Thursday before the following three days feature both morning and evening events. Qualifiers for the NCAA Championship head to Indianapolis, Ind., with the national meet running from March 13 to 16.
