Women's Swimming & Diving | 2/17/2022 10:02:00 PM

ITHACA, N.Y. - Freshman Colleen Whittaker won the 100 butterfly with a record-setting effort and helped the 400 medley relay team to victory with another record on the second day of the four-day Liberty League Championship at the Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium on the campus of Ithaca College. Rensselaer is in third place in the 10-school, four-day meet with 586 points. The host Bombers lead (846) with Rochester Institute of Technology in second (687). Vassar College sits in fourth place (508).

Whittaker began her night with a one-second triumph in the 100 fly, which she raced in an NCAA B-cut 56.18 with splits of 26.25 and 29.93. In doing so, she set the school record Liberty League Championship mark. The runner-up, Lillian Lowenthal of Vassar, touched the wall in 57.17 after going out in 26.03 but coming back in 31.14.

Whittaker later swam the third leg of the medley relay, which established the fastest time in school history in what was the final event of the evening. Megan Beaulieu led off, Ola Nawrocki was second and Shannon Brown was fourth for RPI, which had a dominating time of 3:52.51 considering the second place squad (Vassar) registered a 3:56.57.

Nawrocki, a junior, had an individual runner-up when she finished the 400 individual medley in 4:36.51. Brown earned a fourth place finish in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:55.29.

Rensselaer's 200 free relay team of Gabriela Crother-Collado, Alyssa Cahill, Gwyneth Yuen and Christina Cavalluzzo placed fourth with a time of 1:38.44.

Crother-Collado also swam in the B final of the 200 free and the 400 medley relay, along with Cahill, Yuen and Chloe Jepsen. Bridget Dwyer raced in the B final of the 400 individual medley.

Action continues on Friday with preliminaries starting at 10am.