Recording a half-dozen 1-2-3 finishes and capturing 12 of 16 events overall, the Bentley University men’s swimming and diving team cruised to a 149.5-130.5 victory over St. Michael’s College Wednesday afternoon at the Ross Sports Center. The win in the team’s first meet in a month extended the dual winning streak of the 5-3 Falcons to four.
Eight different swimmers captured single events, including junior Tim Connolly (Dorcester/ Boston Latin Acad.) who helped the Falcons win the meet-opening 400 yard medley relay in 3:46.29, Bentley’s best time of the season. He also was first to finish in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:03.59. That relay also included senior Janco Cornelius (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield HS), sophomore Colin McCarthy (Glastonbury, Conn./Northwest Catholic HS) and junior Sebastian Bury (Bellevue, Wash./ Newport Senior HS).
The winners of the individual events that Bentley swept the top three positions included sophomore Dennis Witol (Bowie, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt HS) in the 1650 free (18:05.34), freshman Aiden Karam (Norwich, Conn./Norwich Free Acad.) in the 200 free (1:51.76) and sophomore Gregory Coleman (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North HS) in the 500 free (5:19.12).
Bentley also went 1-2-3 in both one-meter diving events with junior Colton Bridge (Tolland, Conn./Tolland HS) the winner in both with scores of 166.05 and 240.90. It marked the seventh straight meet that he has swept the diving.
Bentley’s other 1-2-3 showing came in the 200 free relay with Witol, freshman Chris Vukas (Randolph, N.J./Randolph HS), junior Nick Toselli (Barrington, R.I./Barrington HS) and sophomore Liam Bartlett (Syracuse, N.Y./William Nottingham HS) winning in 1:32.94.
The other Falcon first-place finishes were posted by senior Josh Witty (Los Gatos, Calif./ Los Gatos HS) in the 50 backstroke (26.50), senior Connor Mulvey-Hudson (Ardmore, Pa./St. Joseph’s Prep) in the 50 breaststroke, sophomore Matt Ahlmeyer (Morris Plains, N.J./Morristown HS) in the 200 butterfly and freshman Jon Boains (Unionville, Conn./Farmington HS) in the 200 individual medley (2:09.20).
Bentley’s final three dual meets will be at home, beginning Sunday against Keene State (1 pm).
With sophomore Kaitlin McGahie (Boylston, Mass./Tahanto Reg. HS) and senior Nadine Edwards (Danbury, Conn./Danbury HS) leading the way, the Bentley University women’s swimming and diving team returned from a month-long exam and holiday break to best St. Michael’s College, 169-112, at the Ross Sports Center Wednesday afternoon.
Both were double-winners in individual events with McGahie first to finish in the 50 yard breaststroke (32.96 seconds) and the 100 free (56.12). Edwards spent much more time in the pool, taking the 200 free in 2:04.00 and the 500 free in 5:35.32.
McGahie got the Falcons off to a strong start, helping Bentley take the 400 medley relay in 4:17.22. That quartet also included a trio of freshmen: Emily Niemiec (Meriden, Conn./Francis T. Maloney HS), Anne Warren (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron HS) and Jessica Chen (Darien, Conn./ Darien HS).
Both McGahie and Edwards were part of the winning 200 free relay team, along with Chen and senior Danielle Hellstern (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug HS). They edged St. Michael’s by 0.69 seconds, finishing in 1:44.23.
Bentley’s other wins were earned by junior Courtney Stone (Andover, Mass./Andover HS) in the first one-meter diving event (168.45), senior Paige Wilde (Naugatuck, Conn./Holy Cross HS) in the other diving competition (223.95), Niemiec in the 200 breaststroke (2:38.23) and sophomore Nicole Hellstern (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug HS) in the 50 butterfly (29.83).
Bentley, 5-3 after winning its fourth straight, will host Keene State Sunday at 1 pm.
