The 2017 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Men’s & Women’s Open Swimming and Diving Championships continued at the United States Naval Academy on Saturday.
At the end of the second day of competition, the Navy Midshipmen continue to lead the men’s team competition with 365 points, while the women’s team also extended its lead over the rest of the field with 452 points.
Day Two also saw Peter Gallino and Megan Berardelli of Marist College receive the award for the 2017 ECAC Men’s & Women’s Open Swimming & Diving Diver of the Meet, as voted by attending head coaches.
Following the completion of preliminary heats, Day Two’s afternoon session began with Marist sweeping the top podium places in both the Women’s 1-meter diving finals and Men’s 3-meter diving finals. Megan Berardelli took home the gold after posting a total score of 258.05 with teammate Lauren Katz finishing in second with a score of 237. Loyola University’s Lindsey Staszewski rounded the podium with a mark of 226.85.
On the men’s side Peter Gallino posted a total score of 309.65 to finish ahead of teammate Raislan Aiken (291.30) and University of Maine’s Kyle Adams (225.95).
The first event of the evening swimming slate began with the men’s and women’s 200-yard medley relay. On the women’s side, University of Pennsylvania’s swimmers claimed gold in a time of 1:43.57. Columbia University was close behind for the silver medal with a combined time of 1:44.69, with Bucknell University taking bronze (1:44.85).
In the men’s 200-medley relay, the Retrievers swam to a top finish with a team time of 1:29.54, edging out Emmanuel College, which finished in 1:30.43 to earn sliver. Columbia was close behind to capture third place to round out the podium, turning in a time of 1:30.90.
The women’s 400-yard individual medley saw Navy sweep the competition. Mckenna Resconich eclipsed the field for the gold medal, as she touched the wall in 4:22.59. Stephanie Downing (4:24.68) was next to finish, claiming the silver, while Alex Bonfilio garnered the bronze with a mark of 4:25.27.
Jason Quinn from the University of Virginia secured the gold medal and set a new ECAC record in the men’s 400 individual medley with a swim of 3:53.29, narrowly beating UMBC’s Niko Trajkovic (3:53.39) for the top spot. Navy’s Nicholas Lara took the bronze medal in his home pool with a time of 3:57.53.
In the women’s 100 butterfly, Virginia claimed the top two spots when Dina Rommel (54.28) and Peyton Baldwin (54.76) finished respectively. Amanda Day of UMBC finished third with a mark of 54.80.
The men’s 100 butterfly saw top spot go to Navy’s Hayes McCullagh, who touched the wall in 47.48, just ahead of John Denning (48.31) from Virginia. UMBC’s swimmer Philip Adejumo earned the bronze, finishing the race in 48.67.
The Cavaliers grabbed another gold in the women’s 200-yard freestyle, with Mary Pelton (1:48.61) defeating Erin Scudder (1:50.22) from Navy. Virginia’s Maddy Smart finished with the bronze medal with a finals time of 1:50.79.
In the men’s 200 freestyle, Rider’s Zachary Molloy set a new ECAC meet record on his way to securing the gold with a time of 1:34.75. Emmanuel’s Alex Sobers secured the silver (1:35.95), while Ilia Rattsev won the bronze with a time of 1:396.94.
The women’s 100 breaststroke was won by Virginia’s Audrey Gould who swam the race in 1:01.78 to win the gold medal. Raphaelle Gregoire took the silver for St. Francis University with a mark of 1:02.55, while Columbia’s Scott Berridge (1:03.44) finished with the bronze.
The men’s 100 breaststroke saw a new meet record set, as Loyola University’s Ben Cono swam the race in 52.85 to win the gold medal and establish a new top time for the event. UMBC’s Luis Galvan Cardenas swam to the silver medal with a mark of 55.33, just a fingertip ahead of Jacob Wells (:55.51) from Virginia, who took the bronze.
In the women’s 100-yard backstroke, Emma Hadley earned the gold for Bucknell with a swim of :54.62, with UMBC’s Lauren Day (55.07) close behind for the silver. The retrievers would book-end the podium though, as Emily Vance turned in a time of 55.12 for the bronze.
UMBC took top spot in the men’s 100 backstroke behind Alexander Gliese, who touched the wall in 48.16, followed close behind Rider’s Justin Carey (49.20). Navy’s Gregory Arnold touched the wall next to earn the bronze with a mark of 49.46.
In the women’s 800 freestyle relay, Navy closed the day on a high note, claiming the fold with a combined time of 7:29.46 The Quakers took the silver for the second year in a rowwith a team total time of 7:29.87, and Bucknell garnered the bronze with a time of 7:33.06.
On the men’s side, the UMBC Retrievers set a new meet record for the event, posting a combined time of 6:32.31. Penn snagged the silver with a team total of 6:39.16, with Columbia rounding out the podium with a time of 6:40.76.
The afternoon session on Day Two began with the 2017 Intercollegiate Para Swimming Championships. The swimmers led off with the men’s and women’s 100-yard freestyle where Peter Reventlow from Ashland Univeristy set a record with a 54.04 mark in the S10 class. Frostburg State University’s Zach Shattuck (1:04.23) finished second and Benjamin Ertman of St. Marys College of Maryland (1:05.07) took third. In the men’s and women’s 100-yard backstroke Reventlow took gold by posting another record in his class finishing the race with a time of 59.88. Ertman claimed the silver (1:16.99) and Shattuck (1:19.20) received bronze.
The 2017 ECAC Men’s & Women’s Open Swimming and Diving Championships will conclude on Sunday, with the preliminary session slated to begin at 9 a.m.
