Women’s 800 Free Relay Comes Down to the Touch at Night 1 MAAC Championships

Metro Atlantic Conference (MAAC)

• Wednesday, February 9-Saturday, February 12
• Erie Community College, Buffalo, New York, EST
• Defending Champions
  • Rider men (9x) 
  • Fairfield women (3x)
• Live results
• Live video
• Championship Central
• SwimSwam fan guide

The MAAC Championships are back after being canceled in 2021 due to COVID-19. As an alternative season-ending meet, the MAAC held a meet titled “2021 Spring Championships,” that featured competition from seven out of ten teams. 

On Wednesday, the meet kicked off with the women’s and men’s 200 medley relay, women’s 1 meter diving, and the women’s and men’s 800 freestyle relay.

Women’s Recap:

In the first event, Monmouth University got the ball rolling with a win in the women’s 200 medley relay (1:42.96), which is 1.09 seconds faster than their seed time (1:43.96), which was seeded first. Monmouth won the event by .21 seconds 

The team consisted of:

• Camryn McHugh (25.64)
• Tahlia Botha (29.00)
• Georgina Watkins (25.09)
• Alexandra Ho (23.14)

McHugh, Botha, and Ho are a force to be reckoned with in the MAAC as they collectively are seeded 1st across seven events in the psych sheets. 

Taking second in the event was Iona College (1:43.08), which improved 2.76 seconds from their seed time (1:45.84). The lineup was:

• Grace Curry (26.87)
• Julia Moser (28.54)
• Ashley Benkert (24.45)
• Katherine Lee (23.22). 

Moser is the top breaststroker in the MAAC this season by a wide margin. Her seed time of 1:03.34 is two-seconds ahead of anyone in the field, and her split in the relay was the quickest in the field.

Grace Reeves, a senior at Marist College, won the 1 meter diving event (246.30). In 2020, she placed 5th in this event (218.55). Marist picked up 35 points from diving with senior Madison Sweeney taking 4th (201.85)

Sophomore Alexis Gaulin of Fairfield was 2nd (219.15), and led the way for Fairfield’s 43 diving points. Taking 3rd was Adriana Bolender of Canisius (212.00). Bolender was 8th in the 1 meter in 2020 (189.80).

In the 800 freestyle relay, Niagara University and Fairfield University had a showdown with a .05 second margin of victory. Headed into the event, Fairfield was seeded 1st (7:38.88) and Niagara was seeded 4th (7:44.42). Niagara touched 1st at 7:31.89 seconds, with Fairfield placing 2nd (7:31.94). 

Niagara’s lineup included:

• Katrina Wardner (1:50.55)
• Yvonne Schere (1:54.15)
• Delaney LaBlue (1:55.15)

• Moana Houde-Camirand (1:52.04). 

Wardner is the top seed in the 200 freestyle. Her lead-off split is faster than her seed time in the individual event (1:51.93). 

Fairfield’s team consisted of:

• Sydney Scalise (1:54.05)
• Lily Barker (1:53.90)
• Serafina Viola (1:53.19)
• Erini Pappas (1:50.80). 

Pappas had the second-fastest split in the field behind Wardner, but she is not entered in the individual 200 freestyle. She and Wardner will face off in the 200 IM as the top-two seeds. 

Women’s Scores Through Day 1

1. Fairfield University, 109
2. Niagara University, 102
3. Marist College, 89
4. Monmouth University, 72
5. Siena College, 71
6. Canisius College, 69
7. Iona College, 64
8. Rider University, 51
9. Manhattan College, 36
10. Saint Peter’s University, 14 

Men’s Recap

In the men’s 200 medley relay, Rider University was just off its own meet record from 2020 (1:27.83), taking the conference title in 1:28.03 seconds. 

The team consisted of:

• Lucas Racevicius (21.57) 
• David Cooper (25.05) 
• Jack Ruggieri (21.49)
• Joseph Gewartowski (19.92)

Rider finished two-seconds ahead of Marist College (1:30.14): 

• Ahmed Sallam (22.56)
• Chris Dauser (25.36)
• Pavel Makarchuk (22.26)
• Ethan McCormac (19.96)

Sallam is known as a sprint freestyler, but threw down a solid split for his backstroke leg. 

On the men’s side, Fairfield University won the 800 freestyle relay (6:36.89), while Iona College took 2nd (6:37.56). Fairfield’s team consisted of:

• Joseph Stewart (1:38.21)
• Evan Fair (1:39.71)
• Ed Hunt (1:38.97)
• Peter Gori (1:39.40)

In 2020, Fairfield took 3rd  in the event (6:40.30). Iona’s Michael Faughnan had the quickest split in the field (1:38.08). He’s seeded 1st in the individual 200 freestyle

Men’s Scores Through Day 1

1. Rider University, 70
2. Fairfield University, 70
3. Monmouth University, 60
4. Iona College, 60
5. Niagara University, 60
6. Marist College, 58
7. Saint Peter’s University, 50
8. Canisius College, 44
9. Manhattan College, 36