WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State University senior Wiktoria Kaczor (Belchertown, Mass.) won the 50 yard breaststroke to highlight the Owls women's swimming and diving team's performances at the 2023 Little East Conference Championships on Friday evening.
Kaczor finished in 31.57 in winning the event, a half second faster than Anna Vygoder of Rhode Island College, and earned 20 points towards the team score with the win.
The Owls sit in fourth place in the 10-team meet after the first day of competition. Keene State leads with 279.5, followed by Bridgewater (250), Eastern Connecticut (203.5) and the Owls (194). University of New England (172) is fifth heading into Saturday's events.
Sophomore Alexa Richter (Westfield, Mass.) took second in 50 yard freestyle 25.27, just 2/100th behind event winner Maya Brody of Eastern Connecticut. Senior Nicole Pechulis (Longmeadow, Mass.) was fourth in 25.83.
Other top scoring performances for the Owls included Westfield placing third in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:44.54, while senior Kat Ferri (Springfield, Mass./Central) sixth in the 100 butterfly .
Allyson Linkenhoker (Monson, Mass./Belchertown) was fourth in the 200 backstroke in 2:19.20, with Olivia Harkins (Woburn, Mass.) in seventh.
The 400 Medley relay team of Harkins, Ferri, Kaczor and Richter capped the evening with a third place finish in 4:15.01
The meet continues Saturday with event preliminary heats at 10 a.m., and finals at 6:30 p.m.