ST. MARY’S CITY, Md. – The St. Mary’s College of Maryland women’s swim team posted a 66-point victory to claim their second straight Atlantic East Conference (AEC) Women’s Swimming Championship title on Sunday night. Additionally, Casey Brandt and his staff were voted the Atlantic East Women’s Swimming Coaching Staff of the Year while sophomore Anna Kidd (Arbutus, Md./Mount de Sales) was named the Atlantic East Women’s Swimmer of the Year.
Brandt and his staff, Carolyn Sutton ’18 and Connor Alsheimer, guided the Seahawks to their second consecutive Atlantic East crown as well as an undefeated 6-0 record in conference dual meets.
Kidd, the 2021 Atlantic East Female Rookie of the Year, picked up Swimmer of the Year honors after notching three AEC championship meet records (200 individual medley, 200 freestyle, 100 freestyle) as well as three conference marks (200 individual medley, 200 freestyle, 100 freestyle). She was also part of two relay meet records (200 freestyle, 400 medley) and one relay conference mark (400 medley).
Kidd also collected seven gold medals (three individual, four relay) over the three-day weekend.
St. Mary’s College tallied 660 points in finishing first while Marymount University reclaimed its second-place spot with 594 points followed by Cabrini University in third with 573. Marywood University finished fourth (396) and Immaculata University held onto fifth (307) while Cedar Crest College (240) and Gallaudet University (109) rounded out the seven-team field.
How It Happened
- Senior captain Rileigh Krell (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) ended her Seahawk career by defending her 200-backstroke championship title, winning the event with a conference record time of 2:12.03 and surpassing her previous mark of 2:15.61 set on December 4, 2021.
- Kidd captured the 100 freestyle with a championship meet and conference record time of 53.43, breaking her own AEC championship meet (54.60 on April 24, 2021) and conference (54.17 on December 4, 2021) records.
- Junior Christina Trnkus (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) grabbed a gold medal in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:21.24.
- The foursome of senior Leila McCloskey (Leonardtown, Md./Leonardtown), Trnkus, senior captain Bailey Edgren (Canton, Conn./Canton), and Kidd dominated the 400-freestyle relay field, winning the event by nearly eight seconds over second-place Cabrini. The Seahawks clocked a championship meet and conference record time of 3:41.54 to snag the gold medal and break Marymount’s previous championship meet (3:43.78 in 2019) and conference (3:44.15 in 2020-21) marks.
- The Seahawks placed three on the podium for the 200 breaststroke as Edgren touched the wall in 2:27.90 for a silver medal followed by sophomore Julia Milner (Middletown, Md./Middletown) in third (2:39.65) and senior Christina Bonass (Chestertown, Md./Kent County) in fifth (2:40.28).
- McCloskey finished third in the 100 freestyle in 56.16 while sophomore Marissa Fields (Clements, Md./Chopticon) placed seventh in 1:00.88 to join Kidd on the podium.
- First-year Emma Grimm (Derwood, Md./Magruder) reached the podium for the 200 backstroke as Grimm finished eighth in 2:24.90.
- Sophomore Lilianna Bowman (Westminster, Md./Winter Mills) won the consolation final of the 200 backstroke in 2:23.97 for ninth overall while junior Jazlyn Benitez (Silver Spring, Md./Blake) placed 10th in 2:25.69.
Up Next for the Seahawks
- Season Complete