Piscataway, NJ – Senior Alexandra Tomlinson (Telford, PA/ Souderton) turned in a second-place finish in the grueling 1650 yard freestyle with a time of 17:24.29 and swam the first leg in helping Wagner to a third place finish in the 800 yard freestyle relay (7:57.07), as the Seahawks finished fourth in the inaugural Frank Elm Super Splash held at Rutgers University's Werblin Recreation Center.
Tomlinson also delivered sixth-place finishes in the 200 yard freestyle (1:56.69) and the 500 yard freestyle (5:05.12). Junior Jessica Hart (Summerfield, NC/ Northwest) also played a huge role in Wagner's success, placing second in the 100 yard butterfly, marking the second-fastest time in Wagner history with a time of 57.12.
Senior Colleen Bowman (Hauppauge, NY/ Hauppauge) turned in a career best mark of 17:43.19 in the 1650 with a third-place finish. Bowman shaved nearly a second off her previous best time which she swam in the Northeast Conference Championships last year.
Sophomore Bethny Brown (Enfield, CT/ Ennco Fermi High) recorded a school record in the 100 yard breaststroke with a 1:08.42.
Wagner also notched top-five times in all five of their relay events. The Seahawks earned two third-place finishes in the 800 yard freestyle and the 200 yard medley relay with times of 7:57.07 and 1:51.74, respectively. In the 400 yard freestyle and the 200 yard freestyle, the Seahawks picked up two fourth-place finishes with respective times of 3:37.64 and 1:39.75. The Seahawks also brought home a fifth-place finish in the 400 yard medley relay (4:02.17).
"We had a great weekend and took a big step forward as a team,” said first-year head coach Mark Sowa. “I feel the athletes did a real good job at making adjustments from their preliminary swims and many found a way to swim even faster in the finals. We got better every session and many of our girls had performances that were as fast, or faster, than they finished their season last year.
“Having a school record in the 100 breast and so many personal bests is encouraging because we still have a lot of work to do and plenty of places where we can improve,” Sowa added. “Overall, I feel like this was a great test and we have a good idea of how we need to get better."
Host Rutgers garnered 886 points to win the three-day event. The Scarlet Knights finished 78 points in front of second-place finisher Fordham who tallied 808 points. Princeton tallied 532 points for third, followed closely by Wagner in fourth with 530 points while Sacred Heart rounded out the five-team field with 120 points.
Wagner returns to action Saturday, January 24 when the Seahawks host Sacred Heart University in an NEC meet. Wagner will also be honoring its seniors for their dedication and excellent performance.
FINAL RESULTS
TEAM RESULTS
