By Jim Fenton

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Bridgewater State University swimmers Matthew Jo and Desmond Ng continued their strong showings as the Little East Conference Swimming & Diving Championships ended Sunday night.

Jo, a freshman from Tewksbury, Mass., won his third event of the championship meet while Ng (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia), a junior, and won his second event of the four-day competition.

BSU finished third in the team standings after winning the first three championships since entering the Little East in the 2021-21 season.

The Bears had 742 points and were behind conference champion Eastern Connecticut State with 845 points and Maine Maritime Academy with 764.50 points in the seven-team field.

Jo concluded his first Little East meet by winning the 1,650 freestyle race in 17:05.53.

On Saturday, Jo won the 1,000 freestyle after placing first in the 500 freestyle on Friday.

For his outstanding performance at the four-day meet, Jo was voted the Little East Rookie Swimmer of the Year by the league's head coaches.

On the final night, Ng captured top honors and broke the meet record in the 200 breaststroke with a finals time of 2:05.26. He eclipsed former Bear Cooper Castellone's previous mark of 2:10.46 set in 2023.

Ng broke the meet record in the 200 backstroke to win on Friday with a time of 1:58.01. He was also second on Saturday in the 400 individual medley.

BSU senior Michael Losardo (Pittsfield, Mass.) was third in the 1,650 on Sunday with a time of 17:50.50, while sophomore Drew Lawrence (Winchendon, Mass.) placed third in the 100 individual medley with a finals time of 56.91 seconds.

Jo, Ng, Losardo and Lawrence each earned All-Little East honors on Sunday for their top-three performances.

Senior Robbie Soucy (Frye Island, Maine) was selected as the LEC Men's Rookie Diver of the Year. On Thursday, Soucy placed third in the three-meter diving competition with an 11-dive score of 276.25 points. He finished fourth on the one-meter board on Saturday with a finals score of 247.00 points. Soucy posted a one-meter preliminary score of 257.65 pojnts on Friday.

All told, the BSU men's and women's swimmers recorded 105 season-best swims at the Little East Championships with 97 lifetime-best performances.

In upcoming action, qualifying members of the BSU swimming & diving teams will compete at the ECAC Open to be held Feb. 28-March 2 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.