NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Southern Connecticut women's swimming opened a new era Saturday at the Bruce Hutchinson Natatorium, splitting its season-opening double dual under first-year head coach CJ Moran. The Owls defeated the University of Bridgeport, 143-76, while falling to perennial PSAC power West Chester, 180-56. Moran, taking the deck for the first time as head coach of the Owls, saw his team pick up a key Northeast 10 region win over Bridgeport and several individual highlights against a deep West Chester roster that swept the combined scoring.
Junior Molly Kennedy provided the highlight of the day for Southern, winning the 100-yard freestyle in 53.91 seconds. Kennedy also added a runner-up finish in the 50 freestyle in 24.90, leading a strong sprint group. Sophomore Reina Loiacano finished fourth in the 50 in 25.54.
In the distance events, freshman Claire Hanna finished third in the 1,000 freestyle in 11:26.38, while Georgia Pearson took fourth in 11:31.31 for Southern. Freshman Patricia Torviso Quiro added a fifth-place showing in the 500 freestyle in 5:34.47, followed by Sierra DuCharme in sixth.
The Owls showed depth in the breaststroke and individual medley. Sophomore Ellie Baker placed third in the 200 IM in 2:15.62 and second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.68, touching just behind West Chester's Molly Hubal. Senior Emma St Hilaire was fourth in the 100 breast in 1:10.52 and fifth in the 100 butterfly.
Aralyn Vogel paced Southern in the 200 freestyle with a fifth-place time of 2:02.51. The 200 medley relay team of Abby Lyons, Baker, Lakshmi Garofalo and Emily Denise opened the meet with a fourth-place finish in 1:54.87, just ahead of Southern's B relay in 1:54.97.
On the boards, freshman Reegan Pasieka led Southern in both diving events, finishing third in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions with scores of 145.43 and 177.75.
Southern closed the meet with its best relay finish of the day, as the 400 freestyle relay of Loiacano, Tabitha Nalepa, Vogel and Kennedy took second in 3:43.40 behind West Chester.
The split moves Southern to 1-1 in dual scoring on the women's side to start the season.
West Chester swept the women's combined scores, defeating Bridgeport 189-38 and Southern 180-56. The meet marked the official debut for Moran, who was named head coach in the offseason after serving as an assistant within the program.
Southern Connecticut returns to action next weekend with continued Northeast-10 competition. The Owls will look to build on the sprint strength shown by Kennedy and the depth in the breaststroke and IM groups as they settle into Moran's system.
The Owls are back in action on Oct. 2-3 at Fairfield.
