2023 ECAC Winter Championships
- December 1-3, 2023
- East Meadow, N.J.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: ECAC Sports
DAY 1 RECAP
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – Day 1 of the ECAC Winter Championships wrapped up late Friday evening, with the Columbia women and the men of NJIT sitting in first place heading into Saturday. The Lions racked up a total of 698 points as a team, while the Highlanders recorded 548 points on the men’s side.
Stony Brook (417.5) and LIU (290.5) rounded out the top three on the women’s side, while the Monmouth (388) and LIU (335) men finished Day in second and third respectively.
The Columbia team of Emily Macdonald, Sally Ma, Georgia Young and Ana Eyre took the conference crown in the women’s 200 free relay, doing so with a time of 1:32.15. The NJIT men’s squad followed suit, as the group of Francois Malherbe, Tanish Chhabra, Ian Horstkamp-Vinekar and Aidan Blackman took home the men’s title with a first-place time of 1:21.99.
Columbia took the three top spots in the women’s 500 free, with senior Aziza Ganihanova (4:49.77) leading the pack en route to the individual crown. Lindsay Orringer (4:55.14) and Meredith Stewart (4:55.84) took the next two spots, giving the Lions one of the biggest single-event point totals of the day.
For the men, Iona senior Michael Faughnan landed atop the podium with a time of 4:21.29, setting the meet record along the way.
Columbia kept the momentum rolling into the women’s 200 IM, with Young (2:02.51), Allison Martin (2:03.49), Emily Wang (2:04.55) and Ashley Hu (2:05.68) claiming the top four finishes. LIU junior Dani Chocano Fernandez (1:51.71) took home the top spot in the men’s race, while Adelphi’s Cooper Rivers (1:52.34) and Jack Cimorelli of Mount Saint Mary’s (1:52.61) both finishing within a second of first.
Columbia again took the first three spots in the women’s 50 free, highlighted by champion Macdonald (22.92), with Ma (23.29) and Eyre (23.45) finishing on her heels. Freshman Francois Malherbe of NJIT (20.04) set the meet record in the men’s 50 free to win his first conference championship as an individual.
In the women’s one-meter dive, Lichwick totaled 242.45 points, with teammate Sara DiStefano (237.55) landing in second place. The men’s three-meter dive saw Ban (251.70) edge Ethan Gibbs (241.10) for the conference crown, with Iona’s Dylan Ricco (203.55) coming in third place.
In the final swimming event of the day, Columbia won the women’s 400 medley relay, as the team of Ganihanova, Hu, Wong and Macdonald turned in a championship time of 3:41.96. The LIU men closed out the day with a win, with the team of Benny Karlsson, Giannis Venetos, Ethan Law and Alejandro Pascual Del Cid producing a group time of 3:19.61
Saturday’s action is slated to get underway at 9:00 a.m.
DAY 2 RECAP
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – The Columbia women and the NJIT men extended their leads on Day 2 of the ECAC Winter Championships on Saturday evening. The Lions enter the final day with 1,289 total points, while the Highlanders sit atop the men’s standings with 1,177 points.
Sara DiStefano was named the Women’s Diver of the Meet, with her coach Jan Pisano taking home Women’s Diving Coach of the Meet honors. In men’s action, NJIT’s Aidan Ban received Diver of the Meet recognition, while Highlander head coach Tim Lynch was voted as the Diving Coach of the Meet.
A day after opening the weekend with a pair of relay wins, the Columbia women’s team went right back to work, as the 200 medley relay squad (Emily Wang, Georgia Young, Anthea Wong, Emily Macdonald) added to the Lions’ big point total with a first-place time of 1:42.94. Mount St. Mary’s (1:44.33) and Stony Brook (1:45.13) rounded out the top three.
The men’s race proved to be a thriller, as LIU (Benny Karlsson, Giannis Venetos, Ethan Law, Alejandro Pascual Del Cid) found their way to a conference crown with a time of 1:29.79. NJIT (1:29.80) came in second by the slimmest of margins, with Mount St. Mary’s (1:30.09) picking up third and finishing within .3 seconds of the Sharks.
Aziza Ganihanova of Columbia (4:20.02) took home first place in the women’s 400 IM, with teammates Lorelai Page (4:24.91) and Allison Martin (4:24.93) claiming second and third respectively. A day removed from winning the 200 IM, Dani Chocano Fernandez (4:00.72) of LIU won turned in another big performance, winning the men’s 400 IM race by nearly six full seconds.
Stony Brook freshman Ashley Chui made a splash in her first ECAC Winter Championships, as her time of 55.53 was good enough to take first place and edge out Columbia’s Anthea Wong (55.65) and Monmouth’s Jensen Ritter (55.99) for the women’s 100 fly crown. The men’s side saw another freshman come away with a win, as NJIT’s Francois Malherbe (48.19) match the meet record and narrowly beat out SPU’s Ashton Smith (48.55) and LIU’s Ethan Law (49.35).
Sylvia Walker, a freshman from Stony Brook, held on for the win in women’s 200 free with a championship time of 1:50.27, with Columbia’s Hutton Saunders (1:50.89) finishing on her heels. On the men’s side, Michael Faughnan set the meet record with a time of 1:35.28, with NJIT teammates Laith Sabbath (1:38.45) and Malherbe (1:38.84) rounding out the top three.
Columbia dominated the women’s 100 breast, with Ashley Hu (1:01.84) and Young (1:03.17) providing the Lions with a 1-2 finish and freshman Natalia Diaz (1:04.11) taking fourth. Aidan Grady of Mount St. Mary’s broke the meet record in the men’s race, picking up a conference crown in just 54.48.
Columbia came up big once again in the women’s 100 back, taking the top three spots as Wang (55.65), Lindsay Orringer (56.82) and Riley Pujadas (57.01) adding to the point total. Monmouth’s Owen Dyson claimed the individual title on the men’s side, holding off Iona’s Kieran Egan (49.43) and Jason Fitch of Mount St. Mary’s (49.52).
To close out the swimming events for the day, Columbia’s women’s program swept the relays, as the team of Emily Macdonald, Allison Martin, Meredith Stewart and Ganihanova grabbed first place with a time of 7:24.86 in the 800 free relay. NJIT followed with an event win, as Laith Sabbah, Ian Horstkamp-Vinekar, Zachary Kuzak and Malherbe teamed up for a time of 6:42.35, shattering the previous meet record by 2.5 seconds.
The meet resumes on Sunday, with prelims beginning at 9:00 a.m. from Nassau Aquatics Center.
DAY 3 RECAP
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – The 2023 ECAC Winter Championships drew to a close on Sunday evening, with the Columbia women and the men of NJIT finishing off the weekend as conference champions. Both teams grabbed early leads, as the Lions went on to record 1,876 points as a group and the Highlanders ended up with a team score of 1,692.
The swimming awards were announced on Sunday, with Sylvia Walker of Stony Brook taking home the Women’s Swimmer of the Meet award and Francois Malherbe of NJIT picking up the honor on the men’s side. The Columbia coaching staff was voted the Women’s Coach of the Meet, while the NJIT staff won the men’s award.
Columbia freshman Meredith Stewart started the day in impressive fashion, breaking the meet record with a time of 16:52.46 in the women’s 1650 free. Teammates Lindsay Orringer (17:02.64) and Mia Avansino (17:07.62) followed in second and respectively, giving the Lions three of the top four finishers.
Monmouth freshman Ziv Cohen followed with a record-breaking performance of his own in the men’s race, coming away with a conference crown after posting a time of 15:30.32. Teammate Cole Dyson (15:45.18) and Iona’s Michael Faughnan (15:48.71) rounded out the top three.
In the 200 yard back, Aziza Gavihanova broke yet another meet record with a time of 1:57.26, while Columbia put six individuals on the podium for the event. Two men’s swimmers broke the previous record of 1:47.11, as Faughnan (1:44.42) edged NJIT freshman Laith Sabbah (1:45.37) to collect the conference title.
Emily Macdonald of Columbia kept the record setting day going in the women’s 100 free, turning in a finals time of 49.87 to add to the Lions’ big lead. On the men’s side, Malherbe (44.24) held off Austin Toland (44.98) of Mount St. Mary’s in a close finish.
The 200 breast saw Columbia junior Ashley Hu claim first with a meet record time of 2:14.49, while LIU junior Giannis Venetos (2:00.17) took the top spot on the men’s side.
Columbia posted another 1-2 finish in the women’s 200 fly, as Allison Martin (2:03.57) and Anthea Wong (2:04.34) continued the strong weekend from the Lions. Ian Horstkamp-Vinekar (1:48.92) of NJIT won the race on the men’s side, nearly three full seconds ahead of second place.
The final event of the weekend was the 400 free relay, and the Columbia women finished off the meet with a clean sweep of the relays. The Lion team of Emily Wang, Emily Macdonald, Hutton Saunders and Ana Eyre turned in a time of 3:23.33 to break the meet record in dominant fashion.
On the men’s side, NJIT put the finishing touches on a conference championship with as the squad of Malherbe, Sabbah, Zachary Kuzak and Hirda Sharifian combined for a time of a 3:00.84 to hold of a strong effort from Iona (3:01.95).
TEAM SCORES
Women – Top 5
- Columbia, 1876
- Stony Brook, 1207.5
- Siena, 963.5
- LIU, 946.5
- Monmouth, 870
Men – Top 5
- NJIT, 1692
- Monmouth, 1279
- LIU, 1063
- Iona, 1049.5
- Mount St. Mary’s, 775