KSC Swimmers Boast Record-setting Weekend

KEENE, N.H., 12/8/08 - It was a record-setting weekend in the pool for Keene State swim teams. The Owl women captured their third straight Little East championship, and the KSC men placed third at the ECAC Division III meet.

Junior Kristine Trutor (Holden, Mass.) set three individual records and qualified provisionally for the NCAA Division III Championships to lead Keene State College to its third-straight Little East Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship this afternoon at the Tripp Athletic Center on the campus of the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. The Owls set nine championship records and seven Owl marks and won each of the 14 swimming events to post a team score of 508 points to outdistance themselves from Eastern Connecticut State University (308) and Western Connecticut State University (266).

“I didn’t know they were ready for that type of performance this early in the season,” said KSC Coach Jack Fabian. “Everyone had fantastic swims and showed what they could do.”

Keene State College raises the team championship trophy for the third-straight season and sixth overall in the program’s history. The Owls’ captured the Little East Championship the first three years it was sponsored by the conference before the Corsairs claimed back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005.

Fabian’s charges set the tone early in the meet by breaking the 200-yard medley relay in the championships first event. Junior Alea Paddock (Newbury, N.H.), freshmen Maureen O’Leary (Nashua, N.H.) and Jillian Whittaker (Gilford, N.H.), and Trutor combined to establish a new championship record with a time of 1:49.54.

Trutor dominated the backstroke event, breaking two of her own personal championship records in the process. She set a new standard in the 100-yard event with a time of 58.24, shattering the previous mark set in 2006 (1:01.28). Trutor posted a time of 2:08.52 in the 200-yard backstroke to shave 6.47 seconds off the meet record. She also broke the two-year benchmark in the 100-yard butterfly, touching in at 58.57 seconds to best Meaghan Coache’s time from 2006.

Whittaker made an immediate impact in Keene State’s lineup, breaking three championship records. She became the first Little East Championship swimmer to break 25 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, touching in at 24.92. Whittaker also claimed the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events with a time of 1:08.50 and 2:30.74, respectively.

Junior Jackie Foster (Goffstown, N.H.) and Paddock also broke their own championship meet records set last season in the 200-yard freestyle (2:00.07) and 400-yard individual medley (4:39.01), respectively.

The Keene State men’s swim team finished third at the ECAC Division III Championships held this weekend at the Nassau County Aquatics Center in East Meadow, N.Y. KSC finished the meet with 457 points. SUNY-Geneseo won the championship with 749 points.

The Owls, who improved on last year’s fourth place finish, set eight school records at the meet. Junior Domingo Rose (Nashua, N.H.) set three individual Owl records and helped establish a new relay mark to lead Keene State. Rose set records in the 50 breast (27.07), the 100 breast (59.15), and the 200 breast (2:12.01). He also teamed with sophomores Karl Balinski (Waterford, Conn.) and Connor Pennoyer (Norwalk, Conn.) and freshman Colin Daly (Cromwell, Conn.) to set a new mark in the 400 medley relay.

Sophomores Dan Theleen (Southbury, Conn.) and Connor Pennoyer (Norwalk, Conn.) and freshman Colin Daly (Comwell, Conn.) set other Owl records. Theleen broke his own record in the 1,650 free (16:25.99). Pennoyer’s mark came in the 200 fly (1:59.92), while Daly posted his record in the 100 back (53.76).

Sophomores Dan Morse (Hope, R.I.) and Lucas Pozzetta (Merrimack, N.H.) joined forces with Theleen and Balinski to set a new record in the 800 free relay (7:07.88).

A total of 15 Keene State records were broken this weekend.

Women at the LEC meet (7 Keene State records)

1. 50 Back - 27.42, Krissy Trutor

2. 100 Back - 58.24, Krissy Trutor

3. 200 Back - 2:08.52, Krissy Trutor

4. 100 Fly - 58:57, Krissy Trutor

5. 200 Fly - 2:15.71, Maureen O’Leary

6. 100 Breaststroke - 1:08.50, Jillian Whitaker

7. 200 Medley Relay - 1:45.54, Trutor, Paddock, O’Leary, Whitaker

Men at the ECAC DIII Championship meet (8 Keene State records)

1. 1650 Free - 16:25.99, Dan Theleen

2. 100 Breaststroke - 59.15, Domingo Rose

3. 50 Breaststroke - 27.07, Domingo Rose

4. 200 Breaststroke - 2:12.01, Domingo Rose

5. 200 Fly - 1:59.92, Connor Pennoyer

6. 100 Backstroke - 53.76, Colin Daly

7. 800 Freestyle Relay - 7:07.88, Theleen, Pozzetta, Morse, Balinski

8. 400 Medley Relay - 3:32.59, Daly, Rose, Pennoyer, Balinski