Jamie Polek takes first place in the 200, 500 and 1000 freestyle events

KINGSTON, R.I. - In their first meet of the new year, the La Salle Explorers women's swimming and diving team competed in the two-day Rhode Island Invitational with Massachusetts, George Washington and host Rhode Island.  The Explorers finished in fourth place with 555 points; UMass took first place (935), followed by Rhode Island (767) and George Washington (642).

Jamie Polek proved a force to be reckoned with, swimming to a first place finish in the 200 free in a time of 1:55.89 and in the 500 free with a time of 5:04.89.  Polek rounded out her first place finishes in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:35.41, good for 60 points for the Explorers.

In the 200 breaststroke, Rachel Sheridan turned in her best performance of the meet with a third place finish in a time of 2:23.09.  Sheridan also turned in a pair of 5th place finishes in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.12) and the 100 free (55.50).

Contributing points in the La Salle's effort, Mallory Kessler posted a fourth place finish in the 200 backstroke in a time of 2:17.28 and a fifth place finish in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:55.31.

Freshman Carleen Caldwell finished third in the 50 free with a time of 25.44, good for 16 points, while teammate Ashley Young also added 17 points with her third place finish in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:28.08.

On the diving platform, Katie Gifford took fourth place in the 1-meter event with a score of 2:02.50 and tallied 15 points.

The Explorers will be back in action on Tuesday, January 17th when they host the Seton Hall Pirates at Kirk Pool starting at 5:00 p.m.