By Jim Fenton
WELLESLEY, Mass. -- For the third straight year, Cailey Simard of Bridgewater State University has earned the top diving honor in the Little East Conference.
The junior from Haverhill, Mass., was named the conference's Diver of the Year on Sunday night after once again winning the one-meter and three-meter events at the Little East Championships.
Simard has broken meet and school records all three years at the event to outdistance her competition.
On Thursday night, Simard beat her own Little East and BSU records in the three-meter event with 485.35 points.
On Saturday, she won the one-meter diving event with 461.75 points.
BSU finished second in the four-day competition at the Boston Sports Institute with 704 points.
The Bears trailed only Keene State with 779 points and were ahead of defending champion Eastern Connecticut State (685) and the University of New England (651) in the 11-team field.
It marked the fourth straight year that BSU has placed second.
On the final day of competition, the Bears were led by junior Julie Remson (Norwalk, Conn.), who won the 50 backstroke in 28.21.
On Saturday night, Remson was second in the 100 backstroke.
BSU senior Jenna Fiebiger (Johannesburg, South Africa) was second in the 100 freestyle on Sunday with a time of 55.74 seconds.
Fiebiger was third in the 50 butterly on Saturday night.
The BSU 400 freestyle relay team was second on Sunday with a time of 3:47.73. The group consisted of graduate student Brynn Murray (Chelmsford, Mass.) and seniors Brianna Matte (Cumberland, R.I.), Olivia Pelletier (East Kingston, N.H.) and Fiebiger.
Remson, Fiebiger and the members of the 400 freestyle relay squad earned All-Little East honors.
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 Swimming & Diving meet at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. Feb. 28-March 2.
Simard will compete at the NCAA Division III Northeast/North Regional Diving Championships on Friday, February 28th and Saturday, March 1st at Springfield College. She will make her third consecutive appearance at the regional diving championships.
