Keene State Ends Bentley's Run at NEISDA Championships

Connolly, Laden Capture Gold as NEISDA Championships Conclude; Bentley Finishes 2nd
Juniors Willie Connolly (Washington, Conn./Shepaug Valley Reg. HS) and Sam Laden (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire HS) captured Bentley University’s fifth and sixth gold medals of the weekend as the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association Championships concluded at Roger Williams University Sunday night.

Both set school records en route to their gold medals with Connolly winning the 50 yard backstroke in 24.54 seconds and Laden the 200 breaststroke in 2:07.79, an NCAA “B” cut time. Connolly improved on the existing school record by 0.12 seconds and Laden reduced his own school record in the 200 breast by 2.16 seconds.

Those were two of five school records broken on Sunday and 13 during the weekend. In the final event of the three-day meet, Laden helped Bentley set a school record in the 400 free relay, combining with senior Nick Markert (Lincoln Park, N.J./Boonton HS) and sophomores Egen Ouellette (West Hartford, Conn./Conard HS) and Matt Cesaro (Avon, Conn./Avon HS) for a silver medal. Their time of 3:13.92 broke the former standard by 0.37 seconds.

Ouellette was part of eight of the 13 school records set by Bentley in the meet. He broke the school record in the 100 free Sunday morning, as part of the 400 free relay, and shaved nearly eight-and-a-half seconds off the existing mark in the 1650 free with a time of 16:48.22 Sunday night, a performance good for third place. Ouellette also set school records in the 200, 500 and 1000 free during the weekend, and participated on two other record-setting relays.

Bentley’s other Day 3 silver was recorded by Laden in the 100 individual medley, with a time of 55.15 seconds. Markert finished third in the 200 breaststroke (2:17.18), Cesaro fourth in the 100 free (49.44) and freshman Dave Curran (Danbury, Conn./Danbury HS) was fourth in the 50 back (25.77).

As a team, Bentley saw its four-year reign as champion come to end, with the Falcons finishing second of 13 with 552 points. Keene State earned the team title, finishing with 629 points.
 
Final Team Standings:
1. Keene State 629
2. Bentley 552
3. Roger Williams 333
4. Norwich 296
5. St. Michael’s 271
6. UMass-Dartmouth 251
7. Colby Sawyer 122
8. Univ. of New England 88
9. Elms 87
10. Bridgewater State 74
11. Gordon 50
12. St. Joseph’s, Maine, 6
13. Regis 1.