NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University Bears placed fourth at the 2012 Little East Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Championships on Saturday afternoon at the Tripp Center Natatorium on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

BSU junior Chelsea Nolan (Lowell, Mass.) and sophomore Christina Minich (Wellesley, Mass.) posted the best individual finishes ever for the Bears at the meet.  Nolan placed second in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 11:13.12.  Minich recorded a score of 185.35 points to grab second place in the one-meter diving competition.  She also finished third on the three-meter board with a score of 157.95 points.  Nolan and Minich each earned All-Little East honors which go to the top two place-winners in each event.

The Bears' 400 freestyle relay also recorded the highest placing for a BSU relay team as the quartet of junior Nelia Borden (Westport, Mass.) and sophomores Taylor Brochu (Cotuit, Mass.), Kristen Carey (East Taunton, Mass.) and Sarah Rechtiene (Southbury, Conn.) posted a third place time of 3:58.72.

Keene State College captured the team title as the Owls won 13 out of the 16 events to set the championship meet record for team points (630) en route to earning the program's seventh straight and tenth overall title.  Eastern Connecticut State University finished second with 326 points followed by UMass Dartmouth (187), Bridgewater State (168), Westfield State University (111), Rhode Island College (100), Western Connecticut State University (49), and Plymouth State University (35).

In upcoming action, the Bears travel to Gordon College to take on the Fighting Scots on Tuesday evening at six.