Black Bears Close Out 2012 Swimming and Diving Championships; Men Place 5th, Women 6th

BOSTON, Mass. -- A total of 19 school-records were either broke or re-broke by the Black Bears at this year's America East Championships. The women placed sixth with a final score of 307.5 while the men were fifth at 316.

Shannon Bender (Cumberland, R.I.) placed seventh overall in the 1650-yard freestyle event with a new school-record time of 17:19.90. Bender's new mark betters the old time of 17:24.38 set by Colleen Miller in 2008. Bender's split time at the 1000-yard mark was 10:23.14 which is now a new school-record for the 1000-yard freestyle, besting the old mark of 10:26.87 set by Miller in 2008. Carmen Linden (Ottawa, Ontario) placed eighth overall in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:22.30. Linden originally broke Miller's mark, only to have her record re-set moments later by Bender.

On the men's side in the 1650-yard freestyle, Yuri Chronobil (Rochester, N.Y.) placed fifth with a new Maine record time of 15:59.99. Chronobil's new time bested that of Chuck Martin who set the previous mark in 1980 with a time of 16:09.80. At the 1000-yard mark of the event, Michael Capossela (Riverside, Conn.) was at 9:38.90, giving him the record in the 1000-yard freestyle. Peter Farragher held the previous record in the event with a time of 9:40.39 in 1980. Capossela finished ninth overall in the event.

Lauren Thornbrough (San Diego, Calif.) improved her own school-record in the 200-yard fly with a time of 2:04.98, winning the consolation final. Erica Smrcina (North Falmouth, Mass.) placed 13th in the event with a time of 2:07.57.

Lauren Dwyer (Orono, Maine) placed third in the 'B' final, 11th overall, in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:04.76, narrowly missing out on the school-record by .14. Courtney Mellish (Barrie, Ontario) placed 13th in the event with a time of 2:05.61 while Bender was 16th at 2:11.48. Jenn Trodden (Reading, Mass.) won the 'B' final of the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:21.48 while Abby Linn (Elkhart, Ind.) placed 16th at 2:25.79. Naja Harvey (Orono, Minn.), who broke the school-record in the 200-yard breaststroke in the preliminary session, was disqualified for a downward butterfly kick in the 'A' final of the event.

On the diving boards, Kara Capossela (Greenwich, Conn.) placed fourth with a final score of 226.80.

Ryan Fahey (Quincy, Mass.) placed second in the 'B' final, tenth overall, in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:56.63. Andrew Mackeil (Biddeford, Maine) was 14th in the event with a time of 1:58.83, followed by Matthew Twist (Belgrade, Maine) (2:02.20) and Jon Davis (Collierville, Tenn.) (2:04.66). Andrew Meehan (Brewer, Maine) placed 13th in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.85.

Zach Hamer (Andover, Mass.) paced Maine in the 200-yard breaststoke 'A' final as he placed seventh with a time of 2:08.83. Hamer was followed by Brian Landry (Yorktown, Va.) who finished eighth in 2:11.18. Caleb Hoffman (Waterville, Maine) won the 'B' final of the event with a time of 2:09.32.

Connor Devers (North Attleboro, Mass.) touched the wall 14th in the 200-yard butterfly at 1:57.20 and was followed by Eric Gaulin (Northport, Maine) (1:59.90) and Fahey (1:59.84).

Maine ended the 2012 Championships with the 400-yard freestyle relay events. The women took fifth place with a time of 3:31.76, just missing a school-record. Swimming the event for Maine was Dwyer, Trodden, Harvey and Helaina Sacco (Rochester, Mass.). The men's 400-yard free relay squad placed fourth with a time of 3:10.02. Meehan, Joey Quinn (Bangor, Maine), Chornobil and Capossela swam the event for the Black Bears.

--PRELIMINARIES--

Harvey continued to impress in the breaststroke events as the freshman set a new school-record in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:20.98, good for fourth place. The new time broke Trodden's record of 2:21.50 set back in 2011. Trodden placed tenth in the event with a time of 2:23.07 while Linn was 16th at 2:25.88.

Bender placed ninth in the 200-yard backstroke event with a time of 2:04.93 while Dwyer finished 14th at 2:06.35. Mellish followed Dwyer, placing 15th with a time of 2:06.55. Thornbrough paced Maine in the 200-yard butterfly event, placing 11th with a time of 2:05.81. Smrcina placed 16th in the event with a time of 2:09.34.

On the diving board, Capossela placed sixth with a score of 226.95.

On the men's side, Fahey placed tenth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:56.22 while Mackeil was 13th at 1:57.62. Twist placed 15th in the event at 2:01.64 and was followed by Davis in 16th at 2:06.77.

Meehan was Maine's top qualifier in the 100-yard freestyle as he placed 11th at 46.93. Landry and Hamer set themselves up for the 'A' final as Landry placed eighth with a time of 2:09.20 while Hamer was ninth at 2:10.21. Hoffman placed 11th in the event with a time of 2:11.93. Devers, Fahey and Gaulin placed 14th, 15th and 16th respectively in the 200-yard butterfly event. Devers touched the wall at 1:57.99 while Fahey finished in 1:59.11 and Gaulin came in at 2:00.24.

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