SCSU Women's Swimming & Diving Finishes 4th At Fairfield Invitational

Women's Swimming & Diving 10/3/2026 6:11:00 PM

SCSU Women's Swimming & Diving Finishes 4th At Fairfield Invitational

FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Southern Connecticut State women's swimming and diving finished fourth at the Fairfield Invite this weekend, scoring 365 points in a five-team field at Fairfield University.

The two-day meet, held Oct. 2-3, was won by host Fairfield with 916 points, followed by Sacred Heart (763), Bridgeport (442), SCSU and Manhattan (91). The Owls were led by veteran performances in distance freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly.

Senior Molly Kennedy led the way for SCSU in the mid-distance freestyle. Kennedy placed fourth in the 400-meter freestyle in 4:37.19, and added a seventh-place finish in the 100-meter butterfly in 1:07.90. She also anchored both of Southern's scoring relays.

Freshman Ellie Baker delivered SCSU's top sprint breaststroke result, finishing fourth in the 50-meter breast in 35.93. Baker also teamed with Aralyn Vogel, Emma St Hilaire and Kennedy to take sixth in the 200-meter medley relay in 2:08.00.

In the 800-meter freestyle, junior Julia Tejeda finished fifth in 9:46.17, the top Division II finisher in the event, while senior Sierra DuCharme was eighth in 10:08.51. Tejeda added a 13th-place showing in the 100 back in 1:10.16.

The Owls showed depth in the 100 freestyle, where sophomore Giuliana Vavalle finished eighth in 1:02.95 to lead three SCSU scorers. Jade Ventura was 15th in 1:04.71.

Freshman Emma St Hilaire posted SCSU's best finish in the 200 freestyle, taking 12th in 2:19.73, just ahead of teammate Lakshmi Garofalo in 13th in 2:20.75. St Hilaire also placed 19th in the 100 back in 1:13.10.

Garofalo added an 11th-place finish in the 50 freestyle in 29.99, leading four Owls in that event. Ciara Johnston was 13th in 30.23 and Haley Hayes tied for 14th in 30.36.

In the 50 backstroke, senior Sara Roney led SCSU in 15th in 33.57, with Ainsley Dall 16th in 33.76 and Lexi Dominguez 17th in 33.89. Loiacano finished 14th in the 100 back in 1:10.63.

Abby Lyons gave SCSU points in both breaststroke events, finishing 10th in the 50 breast in 38.07 and 10th in the 100 breast in 1:22.33. Tabitha Nalepa was 11th in the 100 breast in 1:22.70 and 13th in the 50 breast in 38.52.

In butterfly, Garofalo was 14th in the 50 fly in 31.78 and Vogel was 13th in the 100 fly in 1:11.90. Ventura finished 16th in the 100 fly in 1:13.57.

Vogel led SCSU in the 200 individual medley, finishing 11th in 2:36.01, with Claire Hanna 14th in 2:39.38 and Roney 15th in 2:40.18.

SCSU closed the meet strong in relays. The A team of Kennedy, Nalepa, Tejeda and Reina Loiacano finished fifth in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:10.28. The B team of Baker, DuCharme, Dall and Zoe McNeill was seventh in 4:20.50.

On the boards, freshman Reegan Pasieka scored for the Owls in both events, placing 11th in 1-meter with 142.25 points and 10th in 3-meter with 125.90.

Southern returns to action on Oct. 30 when it hosts Central Connecticut and Wagner at Hutchinson Natatorium.

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