Fordham Press Release
Bronx, N.Y. – It was certainly a special day at Fordham’s Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center on Saturday, as 11 Fordham seniors were honored for their hard work and contributions to the swimming & diving program. The group though had one more big performance for the home crowd, as they led the Rams to a first-ever sweep of the University of Massachusetts.
For the Fordham men, the Rams topped the Minutemen, 156-142, marking the first-ever win for Fordham against UMass. The Fordham women completed the sweep with a 190-110 victory over the Minutewomen.
In the men’s competition, everything came down to the final race in the 200 freestyle relay, where Fordham’s team of Travis Monahan, Joe Mercurio, Kevin Berry, and Joseph Vizza came up big, winning the event in a season-best time of 1:23.92 to seal the historic win.
The relay win was one of nine event wins for the Fordham men, led by Vizza and Liam Semple, who were both dual event winners. Vizza took the top spot in the 100 (46.87) and 200 (1:41.54) freestyle events, while Semple captured both distance freestyle events, winning the 1000 freestyle in a season-best time of 9:33.60 and the 500 freestyle in 4:38.57.
Other individual events winners included Greg Lombana in the 200 butterfly (1:53.49), Tommy Christensen in the 100 butterfly (51.20), and Isiah Magsino in the 200 individual medley (1:54.20).
The final event win was in the 200 medley relay, as Miguel Mattox, Sean Finlay, Mercurio, and Vizza earned the win with a time of 1:33.42.
Then in the women’s competition, Fordham won 11 events, led by Tara Brunner, who was the lone dual event winner. She placed first in the 50 (24.16) and 100 (52.55) freestyle events.
Eight other women earned a first place finish on Saturday for Fordham, which included seniors Megan Polaha in the 200 butterfly (2:05.80) and Marie Feneron in the 200 individual medley (2:09.84). They were joined by Paulina Watson in the 200 freestyle (1:56.21), Deirdre McGrath in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.15), Catherine Alabanza in the 200 backstroke (2:04.66), Nele Albers in the 200 breaststroke (2:23.28), Erin McBride in the 500 freestyle (5:09.89), and Natalie Brown in the 100 butterfly (57.80).
The last event win for Fordham was the 200 freestyle relay, where the Rams’ group of Brunner, Samantha McDonald, McBride, and Theresa Mullen posted a season-best time of 1:38.11.
UMass Press Release
BRONX, N.Y. - In the final dual meet of the year, Fordham swept both UMass swimming and diving teams as both programs turn their sights on the Atlantic 10 Championships. The Rams defeated the women's team 190-110 and used a late push to knock off the men's team 156-142.
Overall, the Minutewomen took first place in five events with Emma Roush winning both the one-meter and three-meter boards. The men had seven first-place finishes highlighted by Trent Kindvall winning the one-meter and three-meter dives and Al Madden taking first in the 100 and 200 breast events.
On the men's side, UMass held a 133-129 lead entering the 200 IM, but Fordham captured 14 points in the event to pull ahead heading into the final event of the day. First and third-place finishes in the 200 free relay sealed the meet win for the Rams.
Along with Kindvall and Madden, Kyle Stefanides won the 100 back, Owen Wright won the 50 free, and Chris DiGiacomo took first in the 200 back. DiGiacomo also took second in the 200 IM and third in the 200 free, while Ryan Pedrick placed second in both the 50 and 100 free events.
For the women, Olga Egkorova won the 1,000 free and Maddie Biron won the 100 back. Biron also took second in the 200 back, while Egkorova placed third in the 200 free. The meet started with UMass taking first in the 200 medley relay swum by Biron, Chelsea Meiring, Rachel Grant and Ansley Baker.
Baker had a pair of second-place finishes in the 100 breast and 100 free, while Meiring took second in the 200 breast.
