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Keene State Women earn four major LEC swim/dive honors
NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Keene State College earned four
of the six major Little East women’s swimming and diving
awards this afternoon when the conference office announced its
annual 2010 All-Little East teams. Senior Kristine
Trutor (Holden, Mass.) repeated as the swimmer of the
year, while freshman Kaila Umbarger (Chelmsford,
Mass.) was selected as the rookie swimmer of the year. Junior
Rachel Battis (Beacon Falls, Conn.) earned the
diver of the year award, while Jack Fabian was
tabbed as the coach of the year by his peers. University of
Massachusetts Dartmouth freshman Cecila Rius (Rockville, Md.) was
chosen as the rookie diver of the year, and Plymouth State
University took home the inaugural team sportsmanship award.
The 2010 All-Little East teams were determined by order of finish
at the annual conference championship. The Little East Championship
was held on Dec. 5, 2009 at the Tripp Athletic Pool on the campus
of University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Trutor is the top swimmer in the conference circuit for the
second-straight season. The senior from Holden, Mass. also made her
second consecutive appearance at the 2010 NCAA Division III
Championships where she became the first Owls’ swimmer to
earn All-America honors in an individual event. Trutor, who
established a new program record in the preliminary round (56.23),
touched the wall at 56.35 seconds to place fourth overall in the
100 backstroke. She also combined with her teammates to earn
All-America recognition in the 200-yard medley relay (1:46:48) as
Keene State placed 18th nationally, marking the most successful
meet in program history.
Trutor helped the Owls’ raise the New England Intercollegiate
Swimming and Diving Association Championship (NEISDA) trophy for
the third year in succession. She shattered the program and
championship meet records in the 50 backstroke (26.79) to earn the
award for the most points accumulated by a senior. Trutor also left
her mark at the Little East Championships, where she recorded a
pair of NCAA Championship provisional times in the 100 (58.50) and
200 backstroke (2:08:30).
Umbarger made an immediate impact in the Owls’ roster,
establishing three new standards in the Keene State swimming
annuals and qualifying for the 2010 NCAA Division III
Championships. The sprinter from Chelmsford, Mass. swam a leg of
the Owls’ All-American 200-yard medley relay team, and also
received All-America honorable mention honors with the 400-yard
freestyle relay team. Individually, Umbarger ranked among the elite
swimmers in three events, including placing eighth overall in the
50 freestyle (23.85). She was named the swimmer of the meet at the
2010 NEISDA Championships after setting a pair of Owls’
program records. Umbarger touched the wall at 26.01 seconds to
break the 50 butterfly mark, while tripping the timer at 57.27
seconds to capture the 100 butterfly.
Battis helped Keene State raise the Little East Conference
Championship trophy for the fourth consecutive campaign by
capturing the one-meter championship (201.55). She was the lone
diver in the six-person field to eclipse the 200-point barrier on
the lower board. The junior from Beacon Falls, Conn. also placed
second on the three-meter board to earn a pair of All-Little East
honors in 2010. Battis completed her junior campaign with a seventh
place performance at the NEISDA Championships with 344.95 total
points.
Rius was the top Little East freshman diver on the one-meter board
at the 2010 NEISDA Championships, placing eighth overall with
330.75 points. The Rockville, Md. product captured the lower board
in each of her four meets leading up to the regional championship,
defeating her opponents from Colby Sawyer College, Plymouth State
University, WPI, and Regis. Rius eclipsed the 200-point barrier
three times on the campaign, including a season-best 209.35 point
performance against Simmons College on Jan. 24. She was third in
the one and three-meter events at the annual conference
championships. Rius was named the diver of the week four times this
season, while also earning the weekly rookie citation once.
Fabian guided Keene State to the program’s best finish at the
NCAA Division III Championships this past winter, finishing 18th
out of 51 teams in the overall standings with 69 total points. A
record five Owls’ swimmers qualified for the national meet.
He mentored the first All-American in an individual event in
program history, when Trutor touched the wall in fourth in the 100
backstroke. Keene State also added to its All-American count with a
200-yard medley relay, while also garnering a pair of All-America,
honorable mention certificates. Fabian also led the Owls to
the program’s third consecutive NEISDA Championship and
fourth Little East Championship. Keene State dominated the
conference championship meet, sweeping all 16 events and breaking
12 meet records. The Owls placed an astonishing 10 student-athletes
on the annual all-conference teams, accounting for 27 of the 32
possible spots.
Plymouth State raised its standing at the 2010 NEISDA Championships
by four positions from a year ago, finishing ninth among the
22-school field. The Panthers enjoyed the program’s most
successful season in terms of dual meet victories in
2010—posting a 7-2 mark—since the 1999 squad registered
a 7-3 mark. Head Coach Al Switzer led Plymouth State to a 7-1
record against Division III opponents, including wins over Simmons
College, Western Connecticut, and Westfield State. Eight Panthers
qualified for the finals of the NEISDA Championships. Senior Chaz
Sweeney (Methuen, Mass.) and sophomore Nicole Brodeur (Claremont,
N.H.) led the charge for Plymouth State with a pair of
seventh-place finishes. The Panthers were honored with the Steve
Looke Team Sportsmanship Award during the awards ceremony of the
regional championship.
Initially formed in 1986 as a six-team men's and women's basketball
conference, the Little East Conference has since grown to its
present eight-school membership, sponsoring championship play in 19
intercollegiate athletics: baseball; men's and women's basketball;
men's and women's cross country; field hockey; men's and women's
lacrosse; men's and women's soccer; softball; women's swimming;
men's and women's tennis; men's and women's indoor track; men's and
women's outdoor track and women's volleyball.
