Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) – Men and Women
- Wednesday, February 10 – Saturday, February 13
- Erie Community College, Buffalo, NY (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Rider men & Marist women (results)
- Live results
- Live Video (if available)
- Championship Central
The men of Rider University broke the conference record in the 200 medley relay in their very first event in defense of their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) title. Meanwhile the Marist women won two of three events in search of their own repeat championship.
Men’s Meet
Rider swept both events on the men’s side, facing little difficulty in building an early conference lead.
Sophomore Zachary Molloy was involved in both relays, swimming an opening night double for the Broncs. On the 200 medley relay, it was his 21.2 fly split that led the way, blowing out all other flyers in the field by more than half a second.
Bryant actually led early, getting the field’s best backstroke (22.8 from Colin Curtin) and breaststroke (23.9 from Benjamin Schulte) splits. But Molloy vaulted his team into the lead on fly, and Matthan-Matthew Martir anchored in a field-best 19.79 to seal the win for Rider.
The team of Luke Musselman, Adam Phillips, Molloy and Martir went 1:29.13 to break the MAAC record. Bryant was 1:30.17 for second in a school-record performance.
In the 800 free relay, Molloy was again the difference-maker, though this time the race was far less exciting. Rider jumped to an early lead on a 1:38.8 leg from Zachary Molloy’s older brother William. Freshman Vincent Gibbons split 1:39.9 and junior Sam Cramer 1:39.3 before the sophomore Zachary Molloy blasted a 1:36.5 to put the race on ice.
Rider was 6:34.15 in that race, with Marist going 6:41.14 for second place. That included a strong 1:37.6 anchor leg out of junior Ryan Murphy.
Women’s Meet
The Marist women won two of three events to earn a lead in defense of their own conference title. The first win came from sophomore Megan Berardelli, who led a 1-2 punch on the 3-meter diving board. Berardelli scored 296.95 for the event win, with senior Renata Diotalevi right behind.
After the diving break, Marist came down with the 800 free relay title. A close four-team race between Fairfield, Canisius, Iona and Marist through the first leg devolved into a dominating Marist effort through the middle of the race. Sophomore Sara Nestrowitz split 1:52.4 on the second split to give Marist its first lead, and when third swimmer Bethany Powhida went 1:49.8, the race was all but over.
Marist’s team of Bridget Curley, Nestrowitz, Powhida and Meredith Wurtz went 7:29.41, getting a 1:52.5 anchor leg from Wurtz and a 1:54.6 on the leadoff from Curley. Canisius took second in 7:36.97.
The opening event went to Rider, a third win on the night for the Broncs as a whole. Marist and Rider dueled early, with Rider freshman Taylor Stalnaker just outpacing Marist sophomore Georgia Goldman on backstroke 26.54 to 26.58. Marist’s Isabella Morreale (28.2) outsplit Rider’s Julianna Runk (28.4) on breaststroke, but Rider junior Ariana Palmer powered away on butterfly with a 24.8 split to give her team a lead of almost a second.
Jacquelynn Parker anchored the team in 23.79 as the crew of Stalnaker, Runk, Palmer and Parker put up a 1:43.58 to win by about half a second over Marist.