Fairfield Earns Second Straight MAAC Sweep Over Iona

by SwimSwam 0

January 24th, 2022 College, News

Fairfield vs Iona

  • Saturday, January 22, 2022
  • Fairfield, Conn.
  • Results
  • Scores
    • Women: Fairfield 172, Iona 122
    • Men: Fairfield: 158, Iona 136

Courtesy: Fairfield Athletics

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams collected their second straight sweep of a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opponent this afternoon with their victories over Iona College at RecPlex Pool. The men’s team recorded a 158-136 decision while the women’s team tallied a 172-122 win against the Gaels.

Erini Pappas earned three first-place finishes during the meet, while Chris Ford was a two-time winner on the men’s side. Pappas started the day by picking up a win in the 100 back after finishing the event in 1:04.94. She followed up with a win in the 200 back later in the afternoon, touching the wall in 2:20.63. The freshman finished the competition with a winning swim in the 200 IM, clocking in at 2:22.42.

Ford came away with his two victories with the first coming early in the day, picking up a time of 1:04.50 in the 100 breast. He ended the afternoon with a win in the 200 breast, completing the course in 2:23.47.

The Stags combined for 11 wins against Iona with the women being responsible for six of those first-place finishes. Shannon Feeley was a multi-event winner as well, taking two of the freestyle races. Her first event came in the 800 free which she completed in 9:32.90, and followed up with the top spot in the 400 free after navigating the lane in 4:38.34.

Alison Sposili was the third women’s swimmer to gain a win, taking the 200 breast with her time of 2:43.15.

Three other men’s swimmers experienced a victory against the Gaels, starting with Peter Gori’s swim in the 50 free. The senior completed the sprint with a time of 24.38. Joseph Stewart was the fastest swimmer in the 100 free, gaining a time of 52.93. Ed Hunt closed out the Stags wins for the day, finishing the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.16.

The victory extended the men’s swimming and diving team’s win streak to six meets while the women’s win pushed the team’s overall record to 5-2 on the season. Before the meet, both programs honored their senior class as the Class of 2022 competed in their final home meet of the season.

The Stags will continue their season next weekend when they travel to Boston and compete in the Boston University Winter Open, just a few days before they begin their quest for a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship in Buffalo, N.Y. from February 9-12.

Courtesy: Iona Athletics

FAIRFIELD, CT – Coming off a pair of victories on Wednesday at Pace University, the Iona College men’s and women’s swimming and diving team traveled to Fairfield University in Connecticut today and despite four school records and taking three of four relay events, were defeated in both the men’s and women’s meets.

FINAL SCORES

The women’s meet saw the Iona women fall to the three-time defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champions by a score of 172-122. The Iona men were caught in a see-saw meet, falling 158-136. The Iona women’s record falls to 7-3 on the season, as the men go 6-3, with two meets remaining next week, before the Feb. 9-12 MAAC Championships in Buffalo, NY.

MEET SUMMARY

Racing in a 25-meter course for the first and only time this season, the Iona women got off to a great start setting a team record in the 200-Meter Medley Relay 2:01.84 as Luiza Da Silveira, Julia MoserAshley Benkert and Katherine Lee combined to edge the Stags by 71. The Iona men nearly duplicated the win, falling by a time of 1:45.90 by Fairfield to 1:46.00 by Spencer MoranEmil BajramovicJalen Ramjohn and Conor Mullin.

“Fairfield had a 32-0 lead in diving on both the men’s and women’s meets and for us to strike back quickly in the relays was really important,” noted Iona Coach Nick Cavataro. Later the women would close the meet with a .14 win in the 400-Meter Freestyle Relay as Lee, Samantha WhitneyIsabella Nicholson and Megan Josephs posted a time of 4:03.61 to Fairfield’s 4:03.75.

The Iona men’s 400-Meter Freestyle Relay quartet of Michael FaughnanDaniel Hadary, Moran and Aidan Holbrook went 3:30.42 to Fairfield’s 3:33.97 to close the meet.

“The relay events today were very competitive and it was good to see our group respond to quality race pressure. We will need that ability next week and in Buffalo,” noted Cavataro.
In between the relays Ashley Benkert (100-Butterfly); Katherine Lee (50-Free); Julia Moser (100-Breast); Isabella Nicholson (200 and 100-Free); and Taylor Spillman (200-Butterfly) were all individual winners. Lee’s time of 59.72 in the 100-Free and Benkert’ s time of 1:05.38 in the 100-Butterfly were new school 25-Meter course event records.
On the men’s side of the score sheet, sophomore Michael Faughnan won three events (800-Free, 400-Free and 200-Free): Spencer Moran touched first in two events (100-Back and 200-Back) and Conor Mullin claimed a pair of first place wins as well (100-Fly and 200-Fly). Moran lowered his own school record for the 25-Meter course to 57.29; Faughnan dropped his 400-Meter Free mark to 4:00.00 as well as taking the 100-Meter Free record to 52.39 with a strong relay lead-off.

UP NEXT

Iona takes on Atlantic-10 power house Fordham on Wednesday, January 26 followed by MAAC rival Manhattan on Saturday, January 29 for a Senior Day meet at 1:00pm, to close out the dual meet season.

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