WILLIMANTIC, Conn. - Seven-time New England champion Sarah Barber (Meriden) of Eastern Connecticut State University leads the Warriors into the 29^th Annual New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA) Division II-III Championships Friday through Sunday at the Tripp Athletic Center pool on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

A total of 11 Eastern individuals qualified for the meet, with ten of them scheduled to compete. Twenty-four institutions are scheduled to participate, 20 of them members of Division III and four from Division II. Bentley College, a Division II school, is the sixth-time defending meet champion. All five Little East Conference institutions are entered in the meet, among them 2007/08 conference Keene State College, which was second to Bentley a year ago in this New England competition.

Barber is a seven-time New England champion in three freestyle events and  has achieved All-New England status a total of nine times in her three-year career. She has won the 1000 and 1650 freestyle every year and has been second in the 500 the last two seasons to 2007 graduate Katy Pryor of Keene State after claiming the that title as a freshman.

In her quest to be a four-time champion in the 1000 and 1650 freestyle, Barber is seeded first in both events and is seeded second to Keene State sophomore Jackie Foster in the 500 freestyle. A first-year transfer from the University of Connecticut, Foster defeated Barber by four seconds to claim the 500 freestyle in the LEC Championships Dec. 2.

Barber will contend to be named Swimmer-of-the-Meet, as well as the recipient of the Kay Fromer Award as the senior with the most career points in individual events in this meet. Current assistant coach Amy Golas of Meriden received that honor in 2003, when she won New England championships in two butterfly evetns and one freestyle events in that meet and concluded her four-year career with 226 points. All but 11 of Golas' points in the meet came in her final three years.

Barber, who holds six program records in the freestyle and individual medley, has matched Golas with a three-year total of 226 points in this meet. Beginning in Golas' sophomore season, the top two Division III conferences in New England - the New England Small College Athletic Conference and New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference - ended their association with this NEISDA Championship.

The top six finishers in individual events and top three relays are awarded All-New England status. Competitors are allowed to compete in three individual events and five relays.

Additional Eastern swimmers expected to contend for All-New England honors are sophomore Jessica Wilson (Torrington) in the breaststroke and freshman Amy Arisco (Wallingford) in the in the butterfly and individual medley. Wilson, fifth as a freshman in the 50 yard breaststroke and sixth in the 100 yard breaststroke, is seeded fourth in the 50 breaststroke and 200 yard breaststroke and fifth in the 100 yard breaststroke. Arisco, who missed the first half of the season because of illness, is seeded sixth in the 100 yard individual medley, seventh in the 50 yard butterfly, and eighth in the 100 yard butterfly.

Other Eastern swimmers scheduled to compete are sophomores Maureen Cop (Southington), Kelsy Doheny (West Haven), Sarah Dombrowski (Southington) and Carol Ann Smith (Newtown), and freshmen Abby Bolduc (Windsor), Katie Curran (Norwood, MA), and Ericka Piccochi (Waterbury).

As a team, Eastern has finished in the top ten three times since the teams from the NESCAC and NEWMAC withdrew from the competition: eighth in 2005, ninth in 2001 and 2003, and tenth in 2002.

                                                              -30-