Carroll Wins Second Gold On Third Night Of NEC Championship

The Central Connecticut swimming and diving team completed the penultimate night at the 2026 NEC Swimming & Diving Championship with 572 points and in second place. 

Kaitlyn Carroll earned her second gold medal, capturing the top spot on the 1-meter board for the second consecutive season. The Blue Devils placed all four divers in the top-five spots on the night. All told, the Blue Devils had four individual medals on Thursday night. 

Howard sits atop the team standings, with 613 points. Wagner is in third place with 286 points. 

DAY THREE RESULTS 

100 Butterfly 

• Megan Dunnigan went 57.11 in the championship final, good for sixth place 

• In a tightly contested consolation final, Francesca Fusco was the top Blue Devil, placing 10th  overall at 57.76, with Lauryn Cowing a spot behind in 57.85 

• Kyle Behrle finished seventh in the consolation heat, 15th overall, with a swim of 58.47 

• Veronica Okurowski picked up the win in the bonus final, going 58.83, with Jillena Plowucha right behind her at 58.89 

400 IM 

• Gabi Wroblewski earned bronze for the Blue Devils, swimming 4:27.8-0, with a furious charge down the stretch coming up a quarter second shy of silver 

• Izzy Vega made a strong push on the final 100 but was unable to take over the lead and finished 10th with a swim of 4:25.91 

• Loretta Santora was third in the consolation final, with a swim of 4:39.60 and Kyla Behrle was fourth in a time of 4:42.36 

200 Freestyle 

• The Blue Devils picked up three points on Howard in the team chase, as they posted three in the top six of the final heat, led by Sophie Milhomens fourth place finish at 1:50.58 

• Grace M. Young went 1:52.25 to place fifth and Gabby Spaciano was sixth in 1:54.02 

• Maggie Rutledge won the consolation heat for the Blue Devils with a time of 1:53.38 with Lauren Lord coming in second in a time of 1:54.94. Hannah Kretkowski  

• Kretkowski was sixth, 14th overall, going 1:57.01 

• Sophia Pincince posted her second career-best in the bonus final, finishing sixth in a time of 2:00.53, with Mackenzie Talbot seventh at 2:02.93 

100 Breaststroke 

• Grace Young went nearly a half second faster than her qualifying time, touching at 1:04.82 to pick up seventh place 

• Okurowski was 11th, third in the consolation heat, with a swim of 1:07.38 

• Kate Suchowiecki finished third in the bonus final, with a swim of 1:09.34 

100 Backstroke 

• Addison Kenney took home silver with a swim of 55.93, while Francesca Fusco finished eighth in a time of 57.89 

Diving 

• Kaitlyn Carroll and Jewelle Maziarz were separated by just five points in the finals, with Carroll posting 256.35 points and Maziarz taking home silver at 251.30 points 

• Adriana Waton claimed fourth place with a score of 217.65, 0.20 points in front of teammate Rachel Giroux, who placed fifth. 

Relay 

• Central wrapped up the evening with a bronze medal in the 400-medley relay, finishing in a time of 3:47.62 

• Milhomens led off with a backstroke split of 56.24, followed by a 1:05.12 leg in the breaststroke from Grace Young 

• Dunnigan split 55.84 on the fly leg, and Grace M. Young brought it home with a 50.42 anchor leg 

PRELIM NOTES 

100 Butterfly 

• The Blue Devils qualified four swimmers into the evening finals, led by Dunnigan, who swam a 58.76 to qualify sixth 

• Francesca Fusco went 57.53 during prelims, to qualify ninth, with Cowing in the 10th spot at 57.71 

• Kyle Behrle rounds out the finalists for the Blue Devils, swimming 58.72 to earn the 14th spot 

• Jillena Plowucha is the top-seed in the bonus final, touching at 58.82 and will be joined in that heat by Veronica Okurowski who was 19th fastest at 59.05 

400 IM 

• Wroblewski qualified third to lead four into the scoring heats Thursday evening, swimming 4:29.59 

• The Blue Devils have the top-two, and three of the top four, qualifiers in the consolation final, led by Santora, who wen 4:41.50 

• Vega is seeded 10th after going 4:42.13 Thursday morning and Behrle is 12th at 4:43.94 

200 Freestyle 

• Six Blue Devils swam their way into finals and consolation finals with three in each heat 

• Milhomens is the third fastest qualifier, going 1:51.58 during prelims, within a second of the top-seed 

• Young touched at 1:52.64, fifth fastest, while Spaciano qualified sixth at 1:54/10 

• Rutledge is the top-seed in the consolation heat, swimming 1:55.37 Thursday morning, with Kretkowski (1:56.38) and Lord (1:56.43) 11th and 12th respectively 

• Pincince also earned an evening swim in the bonus final, swimming 2:01.62 to take the 24th spot 

• Talbot went 2:02.16 in the preliminary, 26th fastest, but earned an evening swim after scratches 

• Amelia Cieslik dropped more than four seconds from her seed time and touched at 2:46.47 

100 Breaststroke 

• The Blue Devils earned a spot in both the championship and consolation final Thursday night 

• Young secured the final spot in the championship final, swimming 1:05.20 

• Okurowski swam 1:07.41 to secure the 11th spot for a swim in the consolation final, while Suchowiecki finished 17th at 1:09.02 

100 Backstroke 

• Both Blue Devils entered in the event earned berths in the championship final, with Kenney the second seed with a morning swim of 55.23 

• Fusco earned the eighth spot in the final, going 57.48, .18 seconds in front of her nearest competitor 

Diving 

• All four Blue Devils qualified into the top-eight for the evening's championship final, led by Carroll who tallied 251 points 

• Maziarz was the second-highest scorer at 249.90 with Giroux fourth at 231.50 and Waton sixth at 193.90 

NEXT UP 

• The final day of competition gets underway on Friday at 10:00 am with preliminary heats in the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly. Heats of the 1,650-freestyle will begin at 3:40 pm on Friday and the last night of finals starts at 6:00 pm