Women's Swimming | Feb 16 | Swimming Finishes NEC Champs in Fifth Place COMPLETE NEC CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS EAST MEADOW, N.Y. -- The LIU Brooklyn women's swimming team finished the 2019 Northeast Conference Swimming and Diving Championships with 377 points, picking up two silver medals on the final day, one each from Noemie Lacroix-Moreau and Amanda Peren. The Blackbirds finished up with six total medals (four silver, two bronze) after four days of competition at the Nassau County Aquatic Center. Bryant won the four-day event at the Nassau County Aquatic Center for the second straight season with 863.5 points, followed by Central Connecticut (600), Saint Francis U. (485.5) and Wagner (473.5). The Blackbirds finished ahead of Sacred Heart (283.5), St. Francis Brooklyn (270) and Mount St. Mary's (152) in the final tally. Peren picked up her fourth medal of the four-day championships with her silver medal finish in the 200 backstroke final in a school record time of 1:59.28. Peren had the lead for the first seven laps, but was edged out at the wall by Bryant's Alaina Scifo (1:58.81) for the gold medal. Peren accounted for more than half of LIU's podium haul, getting a bronze in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke to go with the silver in the 200 back and as part of the 800 freestyle relay on the opening night. Lacroix-Moreau also had a thrilling race in the 200 butterfly, as she was near the top in the first 25 yards before falling back to the middle of the pack in the 8-lap race. It wasn't until the final turn that it became possible for the Lacroix-Moreau to close the gap and get to the podium. She finished in 2:03.88, over two seconds ahead of third place with an excellent last lap. Her time was a season-best and only 0.33 behind her school record from her freshman season at the NECs. The 100 freestyle final, which would be senior Briana Vega's final individual event as a Blackbird, also proved to be very dramatic. Vega, who had missed two recent meets due to injury, let it all go in the 100 final, an event she has earned a bronze medal in both 2017 and 2018 in the race. Vega, went for broke and had a 0.2 second lead at the first wall, she even had the lead near the third turn, but by the time she came down the stretch, she completely ran out of gas and came in eighth place (51.50). Vega finishes with five individual freestyle medals in four years at the NEC Championships. Four-time NEC Rookie of the Week Amanda San Juan finished in sixth place in the 1,650 (mile) freestyle in 17:41.59, while her classmate Macie Madden took 10th in 17:58.40. Senior Nathalie Meyers also scored big points in her final race, slotting sixth in the 200 backstroke in 2:03.35. A rundown of other finished from the Saturday night session include: Freshman Lydia Amon also went 54.45 in the 'C' freestyle final… Jeanne Touchette-McGowan (2:04.96), Alyssa Juris (2:07.47) and Jacqueline Grabowski each swam in the 200 backstroke 'C' final. Senior Mads Carrigan (2:23.76) placed 11th overall in the 200 breaststroke, just ahead of freshman Mackenzie Burnett (2:26.72) in 15th place and sophomore Avery Vernon (2:27.52) in 19th… Sophomore Kyleigh Barao (2:09.92) scored her first-ever individual points with a 12th place showing in the 200 Then in the final event, the 400 freestyle relay a foursome of Amon, Vega, Lacroix-Moreau and Peren, the Blackbirds grabbed their final points of the week, coming in fourth in 3:27.23, the second fastest mark in school history. In the morning preliminaries, the Blackbirds had seeded swimmers in all four individual qualifying events, including the 200 backstroke with Amanda Peren (2:01.10) and Nathalie Meyers (2:02.67), each getting a spot in the 'A' final, while Jeanne Touchette-McGowan (2:07.99), Jacqueline Grabowski (2:08.42) and Alyssa Juris (2:09.03) all made it into the 'C' final. In the 100 freestyle Briana Vega went 51.64 to get into her third 'A' final in as many season, while freshman Lydia Amon (52.90) slotted 18th to get into the night session as well. In the 200 butterfly, Noemie Lacroix-Moreau made it into the 'A' final with a 2:07.14 time, while Kyleigh Barao came in 11th place (2:09.37) to get into the 'B' final. Then in the 200 breaststroke, Mackenzie Burnett was LIU's top qualifier with a time of 2:25.83, just ahead of Mads Carrigan (2:26.60) and Avery Vernon (2:27.42). NEXT UP The Blackbirds will have a few weeks off before heading to Cleveland State for the CSCAA National Invitational Championship for the second straight season, where LIU swimmers that have met qualifying times can face off against National level Division I swimmers to close out the season.