GNAC Swimming & Diving Report: Week 5

( FOR THE WEEK OF NOV. 4 - 10 )

	WOMEN'S ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Sara Manjikian, Simmons (Jr., Belmont, Mass.) The junior diver enjoyed one of the best days of her career, placing first on both the one and three-meter boards vs. Wellesley College on November 9. Manjikian broke the Simmons record on the one-meter board with a score of 250.30 to eclipse the former six-dive standard set in 2009. She turned in a score of 227.55 points to register the top mark on the three-meter board to win by more than 23 points and sweep both diving events for the Sharks.
	MEN'S ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Alex DiGiacomo, Norwich (Sr., Norfolk, Mass.) At Saturday's home meet against Regis (Mass.) and Babson, DiGiacomo finished in second in the men's 50 yard freestyle with a time of 22.35. He then won the men's 100 yard freestyle in 49.48.
	WOMEN'S ROOKIE OF THE WEEK Nikky Ansley, Norwich (Fr., Berlin, Germany) Ansley claimed first in the women's 50 yard freestyle in 25.35 during Saturday's home meet against Regis (Mass.) and Babson. She went on to place second in the women's 100 yard freestyle in 55.97.
	MEN'S ROOKIE OF THE WEEK Jack Brennan, Norwich (Fr., Hopkinton, Mass.) Brennan continued his hot streak, taking first in the 1-meter, voluntary five dive competition on Saturday afternoon with a score of 121.19. He also took first in the 1-meter, voluntary six dive contest with a score of 225.23.

WEEK 5 HONOR ROLL

Jinnae Jang, Colby-Sawyer  (Jr., Fall River, Mass.) - Jang was a member of the 200 medley relay winning team and also won two individual events to lead the Chargers to a victory over Plymouth State on Friday. She earned the victory in the 100-breaststroke by more than five seconds. She touched the wall in 1:16.02. Jang then posted a time of 1:06.56 to win the 100-IM by nearly six seconds. On Saturday, in a tough loss at Smith. Jang posted the first victory for the Chargers on the day by winning the 200-freestyle by nearly two seconds with a time of 2:07.85. Jang later won the 100-freestyle with the only sub-minute swim. She clocked in with a season best 58.16. Jang picked up a second place in the 50-butterfly (28.55).

Leilani Marlow, Colby-Sawyer (Fr., Kapolei, Hawaii) - Marlow was a member of the 200 medley and 200 freestyle winning relay teams to help the Chargers to defeat Plymouth State on Friday. Marlow also cruised to a victory in the 50-backstroke winning by more than five seconds at 30.10. On Saturday, in a tough loss at Smith, Marlow took the top spot in the 50-backstroke by more than two seconds at 30.23. She added a second in the 100-backstroke (1:07.01).

Megan Duffy, Norwich (So., Shelton, Conn.) - Duffy won the women's 200 yard freestyle with a time of 2:01.83 during Saturday's home tri-meet against Regis (Mass.) and Babson. Duffy also took second in the women's 200 yard IM in 2:18.94 and won the women's 500 yard freestyle in 5:27.36.

Sarah Leonard, Regis (Sr., Brockton, Mass.) - Leonard was one of Regis' top swimmers as the Pride defeated Norwich as part of a double-dual meet also involving Babson Saturday. She led off the 200 medley relay with a 50 backstroke split of 29.31 seconds to help the Pride finish second overall in the event in 1:59.94. Leonard then finished fourth in the 50 freestyle in 26.28 seconds and third in the 100 backstroke (1st among GNAC swimmers) in 1:05.18, personal season-best times in both events.

Brendan Pike, Regis (So., Weymouth, Mass.) - Pike led a short-handed Regis men's squad in Saturday's double-dual meet against Norwich and Babson. He finished second in the 1000 freestyle behind only a Babson swimmer with a season-best time of 11:04.15. Then he posted another personal season-best time in finishing fifth in the 500 freestyle in 5:24.58. Finally, he anchored the 200 freestyle relay, posting the Pride's fastest 50 free split of 24.70 seconds as Regis finished fourth with an overall time of 1:40.16, over a second quicker than the team's fastest time in the event entering the day

Alise Martel, St. Joseph (Conn.) (So., Harwinton, Conn.) - The sophomore captain picked up victories in all four events she competed in this past Saturday to help the USJ women's swimming and diving team sweep a double dual meet with wins over Albertus Magnus, 204-36, and Elms, 151-105, at the Marcus Messer Athletic Center Pool. Martel helped power the Blue Jays over the Falcons and Blazers after touching the wall first in the 200 Free (2:15.73), 50 Free (26.83), 200 Breast (2:53.55) and was the anchor swimmer on USJ's winning 200 Free Relay (1:52.08) team where she sprinted the final 50 yards in blistering time of 26.66

Alexia Weir, St. Joseph (Conn.) (Fr., Hebron, Conn.) - Weir continued her impressive start to her rookie campaign and picked up victories in all four events she competed in this past Saturday, helping the USJ women's swimming and diving team sweep a double dual meet with wins over Albertus Magnus, 204-36, and Elms, 151-105, at the Marcus Messer Athletic Center Pool. Weir helped power the Blue Jays over the Falcons and Blazers after touching the wall first in the 50 Back (30.76), 200 Back (2:22.19), 200 IM (2:26.79) and was the lead swimmer on USJ's winning 200 Free Relay (1:52.08) team where she sprinted the opening 50 yards in 27.57 where the Blue Jays led from start to finish.

Katelyn Quinlan, Simmons (Fr., Haverhill, Mass.) - The first year placed second in both individual events that she competed in and also helped the Sharks finish second in the 200-yard medley relay. The rookie placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a personal-record time of 1:13.25 and added another runner-up effort in the 200-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 2:38.10. Quinlan contributed to Simmons second-place showing in the 200-yard medley relay, swimming the anchor leg as part of a 1:58.29 time.