In a four-day span from February 16-19, 2017, the Keene State College men’s and women’s swim and dive teams had numerous notable performances at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving (NEISDA) Championship meet. One of those performers, Ryan Boraski, even earned himself a spot in the NCAA Championship meet in Shenandoah, Texas, which begins on March 15.
Overall, the women’s team placed third and the men’s team fourth. According to collegeswimming.com, Hope Walsh held KSC’s top swim on the women’s side with a time of 5:03.06 in the 500 free. Walsh’s performance broke the Keene State College record, according to Assistant Coach Diana Pimer. Walsh also won the 1,650 with a time of 17:24.48.
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Walsh said her performance was the icing on the cake for her season.
“I’ve been working hard all year long,” Walsh said. “It’s exactly what I wanted to do.”
Other members of the team with notable performances included Katie Brandeberry and Sydney McGough, who both swam their way into the record book in the 50 free. Brandeberry’s time of 28.65 and McGough’s time of 28.84 were the sixth and eighth fastest times in Keene State history, respectively, according to keeneowls.com. First-year swimmer Sophie Hayes won the 200 fly with a time of 2:12.49, beating out Kylie Herman from Brandeis University by .18 seconds.
For the men, first-year swimmer Kyle Shadeck locked up the eighth best swim in the meet among men, according to collegeswimming.com, swimming the 400 IM in 4:01.76 and earning an NCAA ‘B’ cut. Shadeck, along with Ryan Boraski, Graham Lott and Eric King, earned the top spot in the 400 free relay, finishing in a time of 3:08.32.
On the men’s side, Boraski held four of the top five swims at the meet, according to collegeswimming.com. Boraski’s two best performances occurred in the 100 free (44.10) and the 200 free (1:40.89). Boraski broke KSC, facility and competition records throughout the meet.
Boraski was contacted for comment, but did not answer before The Equinox’s publication deadline.
Frank Poulin / Contributing Photo
Diver Jake Driscoll also earned a win in the three-meter-dive with a score of 368.70. Driscoll, a sophomore from Marblehead, Massachusetts, is the only diver on the men’s team. Head Dive Coach Patrick Pyrch said he has high hopes for Driscoll moving forward.
“He is capable of a lot more. He did qualify once for the NCAA qualifying meet. I think that’s probably a goal well-set right off the bat for next year for him to qualify,” Pyrch said. Divers need to qualify twice for them make it to the NCAA championship meet. In order to qualify for the three-meter-dive, a diver would need to receive a score of 440 or more in 11 dives. Driscoll received 368.70 points, just shy of the required score.
The members of the KSC swim and dive team who did qualify for the NCAA championship meet, will compete in Shenandoah, Texas beginning on March 15. In an e-mail, Pimer described the meet in Texas as, “the biggest meet of the year.”
Crae Messer can be contacted at cmesser@kscequinox.com
Alyssa Salerno can be contacted at asalerno@kscequinox.com