The MAAC teams concluded their first day of the 2014 men’s and women’s swimming and diving championships in Buffalo, N.Y. There was excitement from start to finish as the athletes in each event pushed for their best times and highest scores.
The Marist men lead after scoring 185 points earlier today, while second-place Rider registered 171 points. Canisius College is in third with 116 points, followed by Saint Peter's (109), Bryant University (104), Niagara University (95), Iona College (84), Manhattan College (59) and Fairfield University (50).
On the women's side, Marist has tallied 169 points, while Saint Peter’s stands in second place (152.5). Canisius is in third with 144.5 points, followed by Rider (135), Iona (99), Siena (98). Fairfield comes in at seventh (59), followed by Niagara (53) and Manhattan (36).
In the 50 freestyle preliminary, Saint Peter’s Rachel Wuko broke the MAAC championship record with a time of 23.35, a record previously held by Siena’s Katie Ness. Ness recorded a time of 23.48 in 2011. Later in the day during the 50 freestyle finals, Wuko again broke her own MAAC championship record she set only hours before when she finished with a time of 23.09. Saint Peter's women’s 400 medley relay team of Matea Samardzic, Alexandra Sison, Cristina Decisneros and Rachel Wuko broke another MAAC championship record finishing their relay in 3:46.90. The past record of 3:48.42 was held by Marist since 2012.
Marist got off to a great start with both the men’s and women’s 200 free relay taking first place. The Red Foxes Kimbery Tobias grabbed first place in the three-meter dive, scoring a 237.95. John Spitzer also took first place in the men’s 50 freestyle. Rider’s Trevor Hiller placed first in the men’s one-meter dive, the second consecutive year he took home that title. Marissa Oakey of Canisius barely edged out Bonnie Orr of Marist to take first place in the women’s 500 freestyle.
The 2014 MAAC swimming and diving championships continue tomorrow February 14th at the Burt Flickinger Athletic Center at Erie Community College in Buffalo, N.Y.
