Ouellette Captures Gold in 50 Fly; Bentley Stands in 2nd Place after Day 2
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. -- Bentley University senior Egen Ouellette (West Hartford, Conn./ Conard HS) broke the school record in the 50 yard butterfly twice on Saturday en route to winning a gold medal during the second day of the New England Swimming and Diving Association Championships at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center. Ouellette qualified for the finals with a time of 23.88 seconds in the prelims and bettered that by about four-tenths of a second with a 23.46 in the finals. The former record of 24.22 was set by Brian Castagna at the same meet eight years ago.
Ouellette also helped Bentley earn silver and set a school record in the 200 medley relay. The team of sophomore George Go (Manila, Philippines), freshman Phillip Chan (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier HS) and freshman Steve Sylvia (Westerly, R.I./Westerly HS) finished in 1:36.55, bettering the former standard by 0.47 seconds.
Bentley was also second in the 800 free relay, with juniors Tyler Champagne (Orange, Conn./ Amity Reg. HS), Erik Stricker (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central HS) and Joe Frantel (Canandaigua, N.Y./Marcus Whitman HS) combining with senior Chris Horan (Hanover, Mass./Boston College HS) for a time of 7:12.02.
Freshman Peter Belanger (Andover, Mass./Andover HS) took second in the 400 individual medley, finishing in 4:26.47, and Go was third in the 100 backstroke (54.21).
As a team, Bentley finished the second day of the three-day meet in second place, with a score of 514 points. Keene State, which is seeking its third straight championship, leads the 13-team field with 701 points.
Sunday's action starts with the prelims at 10 am and concludes with the finals at 5:30.
BENTLEY 1ST-PLACE FINISHES
50 Fly: Egen Ouellette, 23.46 (school record
BENTLEY 2ND-PLACE FINISHES
200 Medley Relay: George Go, Phillip Chan, Ouellette, Steve Sylvia, 1:36.55 (school record)
400 IM: Peter Belanger, 4:26.47
800 Free Relay: Tyler Champagne, Erik Stricker, Joe Frantel, Chris Horan, 7:12.02
BENTLEY 3RD-PLACE FINISHES
100 Back: Go, 54.21
SCHOOL RECORDS
200 Medley Relay: Go, Chan, Ouellette, Sylvia, 1:36.55 (old, 1:37.02, 2/28/09)
50 Fly: Ouellette, 23.46 finals & 23.88 prelims (old, Brian Castagna, 24.22, 2/22/03)