Fairfield Invitational
- Fairfield, Connecticut
- Sept. 28, 2019
- Men: Fairfield 702, Southern Connecticut State 342, Pace 294
- Women: Central Connecticut State 474, Sacred Heart 453, Fairfield 444, Pace 125, Southern Connecticut State 96
- Results
Courtesy: Fairfield Athletics
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving teams opened the 2019-20 season hosting a series of programs at the Fairfield Invitational. The men’s program earned 702 points finishing in first place against Southern Connecticut State University (342 points) and Pace University (294 points). The women’s program finished in third place with 444 points behind Central Connecticut State University (474 points) and Sacred Heart University (453 points). Pace University (125 points) and Southern Connecticut State University (96 points) completed the field of five programs.
“Today was a great way to start off the season against strong competition,” said Head Coach Anthony Bruno. “We use this meet as a way to see where we are at after the first month. This year’s group may be one of the most talented in the history of the program. We’re ready to move into the next part of the Fall.”
The first relay win for the women’s program came with the 200 meter medley relay team comprised of Morgan Rogers, Colleen Young, Morgan Hansen and Maria Nitti. Sara Ostensen won the 800 meter freestyle with a time of 9:35.51, the 200 meter butterfly with a time of 2:26.80 and the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 4:39.11.
The first win of the day for the men’s program came with the 200 meter medley relay team of Evan Fair, Benjamin Kebbell, Jordan Rahurahu and Peter Gori. Gori followed up with a win in the 200 meter freestyle with a time of 1:59.17 and a win in the 100 meter freestyle. Freshman Will Robinson won the 100 meter breaststroke with a time of 59.15. The first seven finishers in the 100 meter breaststroke were all Stags lead by Guillem Perez with a time of 1:07.55. Patrick Boyle won the 200 meter butterfly with a time of 2:16.87. Evan Fair won his first individual event of 2019 with a time of 2:13.40 in the 200 meter backstroke. Chris Ford won the 200 meter breastroke with a time of 2:28.60. Brendan Finnegan finished in first place in the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 4:21.62. Austin Twiss won the 100 meter butterfly with a time of 58.36. The men’s program finished the day with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay completed by Fair, Kebbell, Finnegan and Gori.
The Stags head to Chestnut Hill next weekend to compete in the New England Catholic Invitational beginning Friday, October 4 hosted by Boston College.
Courtesy: Central Connecticut State Athletics
The Central Connecticut women’s swimming and diving team opened the 2019-20 season with a strong showing at the Fairfield Invite on Saturday. In swimming action (the Blue Devils did not dive on Saturday), Central posted a first place finish with 490 points, 89 points ahead of second place Fairfield. Sacred Heart was third with 396 points, followed by Pace (112) and Southern Connecticut (86).
The Blue Devils opened the Invite with a third place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. The team of sophomore Katie Czulewicz, sophomore Mariana Espino, junior Katelyn Mann and sophomore Simona Visinski finished with a time of 2:05.37 to earn 32 points. The team of junior Erin Brown, sophomore Alex Lindgren, freshman Kaylin McMahon and sophomore Destiny Johnson placed fifth in 2:07.83 and earned an additional 28 points in the race.
Senior Gracie Regan placed second in the 800 freestyle with a time of 9:42.60 to earn 13 points for the Blue Devils. Classmate Keelin Kendall was fourth in the same race in 9:50.13 to grab 11 points. Senior Grace Fredricks was seventh in 9:58.24.
Senior Erika Maercklein finished second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:12.57. Freshman Shannon Welcome was seventh in 2:16.08 and Czulewicz was 10th in 2:16.74.
Sophomore Jeannette King finished second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:07.51. McMahon was sixth in 1:09.98.
Mann won the 100 breaststroke in 1:16.58. Lindgren was second in 1:17.11 and freshman Abby Bacon was fourth in 1:19.92. Espino finished sixth in 1:21.26 as the Blue Devils earned 49 points in the event.
McMahon finished fourth in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:33.49. Welcome was sixth in 2:35.32. King placed second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 27.71 while sophomore Hallie Perrin was fifth in 28.18.
King then placed second in the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:01.52. Maercklein was fifth in 1:02.54 and Visinski was seventh in 1:02.94. Czulewicz finished eighth in 1:03.47.
McMahon won the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:28.16 while Brown was fourth in 2:30.79 and Perrin was fifth in 2:30.87.
The Blue Devils took the first four sports in the 200 breaststroke. Lindgren was first with a time of 2:45.70, followed by Mann (2:48.45), Regan (2:50.12) and Bacon (2:50.73). The four combined for 53 points.
Maercklein finished second in the 400 freestyle with a time of 4:41.42. Welcome was fourth in 4:52.30 and Fredricks was fifth in 4:52.75. Mann finished fourth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:08.83.
Lindgren was third in the 200 IM with a time of 2:32.64. Regan was fourth in 2:35.47 and Bacon finished sixth in 2:35.81.
Central ended the meet with a second and fourth place finish in the 400 freestyle relay with times of 4:07.26 and 4:18.24 to claim 48 additional points.
Courtesy: Sacred Heart Athletics
FAIRFIELD, Conn.- The Sacred Heart University Swimming and Diving team took second place at the Fairfield Invite this morning to kick-off the 2019 season. The Pioneers will return to action on Saturday, October 12 when SHU competes at Central Connecticut State.
Diving Highlights
- Sophomore Molly Martin dominated the women’s 1 meter and 3 meter diving events as she took first place in both with scores of 193.7 in the 1 meter which was 10 points higher than the second place finisher Caitlin Campbell from Fairfield U as she tallied a score of 183.5. In the 3 meter, Martin tallied a score of 221.84 which gave her first place ahead of second place finisher and teammate Megan McLaughlin as she tallied an impressive score of 193.87. McLaughlin took third in the 1 meter diving event placing a score of 170.00.
Swim Highlights
- Senior Lauren Somers won the 200, 50, and 100 free-style events and anchored a come from behind swim to aid in the Pioneers victory in the 400 free-style relay which helped up win the invitational. Somers placed a time of 2:11.80 in the 200 free just milliseconds ahead of the second place finisher. While in the 50 meter free she swam an impressive time of 27.25 to take first in the event. Lastly in the 100 free, she took first with a time of 59.38.
- Freshman Kelly Bartnett claimed her first win at a collegiate event earning first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:07.12, and placed third in the 50 meter free with a time of 27.91, and third as well in the 300 meter free-style with a time of 1:01.95 and was the second leg of the winning 400 meter free-style relay.
- Freshman Casey Barrett earned her first collegiate victory as she won the 200 IM with a time of 2:31.49 and also took second in 200 meter back-stoke, and fourth in 100 meter back-stroke.
- Junior Emily Peter won the 100 meter butterfly with a time of 1:06.6 , and led off the winning 400 free-style relay plus the butterfly leg of the 200 medley relay.
- Sophomore Nicole Tingley came in second in the 100 meter-butterfly, fifth in the 200 meter free-style and second in the 200 medley relay and was the third leg of the winning 400 free relay.
- In the team 400 meter free relay the Pioneers took the winning time of 4:04.96 to claim first.
Other Highlights
- Freshmen Jillian Pusateri took fifth in the 800 meter free-style.
- Freshmen Alivia Gibson claimed fifth in 100 meter backstroke.
- Junior Fiona Maxwell took fifth in both the 200 meter-butterfly and 200 IM.
- Freshmen Ashley Ayala took fifth in the 100 meter-butterfly.
Courtesy: Southern Connecticut State Athletics
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Southern Connecticut State University men’s swimming & diving team finished second out of three teams at the Fairfield Invitational, placing ahead of NE10 opponent Pace by a score of 342-294.
Andrew Buehler won the 1 Meter and 3 Meter Diving events while Leo LaPorte won the 50 Meter Freestyle and Bryce Castellone captured the 200 Meter Individual Medley.
The Southern Connecticut State University women’s swimming & diving team completed the Fairfield Invitational with 96 points, good for fifth.
1 Meter Diving
- Andrew Buehler won the 1 Meter Diving event with a score of 248.24 to collect 16 points for the men to start the event.
- Tahj Mitchell-Westberry finished fourth with a score of 204.30 for 11 points for the Owls.
3 Meter Diving
- Buehler also turned in an impressive performance in the 3 Meter Diving event, winning to grab another 16 points with a score of 250.60.
800 SC Meter Freestyle
- Evan Bombery finished third out of nine with a time of 9:16.77 for 12 points while Michael Mendonca finished sixth for nine points.
200 SC Meter Freestyle
- The Owls filled in four of the top-eight spots in the 200 SC Meter Freestyle, highlighted by a second-place finish for Chandler Tucker with a time of 2:01.04 for 13 points, followed by Bryce Castellone in fourth place with a time of 2:04.18 for 11 points and Timothy Kanaley in fifth place with a time of 2:04.77 for 10 points.
- Colby Delia was seventh with a time of 2:10.37 for seven points.
100 SC Meter Butterfly
- Leo LaPorte was fourth with a time of 1:03.20 to pick up 11 points for the Owls, followed by Tyler Cusano in seventh place at 1:05.31 for seven points.
- Bailey Peters was ninth at 1:07.04 for five points while Matthew Widlar grabbed another four points with a time of 1:11.41.
100 SC Meter Breaststroke
- Widlar was also the Owls top-finisher in the 100 SC Meter Breaststroke with a time of 1:12.35 for 10 points after an eighth-place finish while Dominic Papiro was 10th with a time of 1:15.32 for seven points.
200 SC Meter Butterfly
- John Gaudio was seventh with a time of 2:27.15 for seven points followed by Chandler Tucker with a time of 2:29.90 for five points.
50 SC Meter Freestyle
- Two-time All-American Leo LaPorte won the 50 SC Meter Freestyle event with a time of 24.80 for 16 points while Max Padro was sixth with a time of 25.71 for nine points.
100 SC Meter Breaststroke
- Evan Bombary finished seventh with a time of 58.39 to grab nine points for the Owls while Hunter Cripps finished in 59.80 for four points followed by John Gaudio in 59.81 for three points.
200 SC Meter Backstroke
- Timothy Kanaley finished third with a time of 2:17.78 for 12 points while Patrick Keith was seventh with a time of 2:25.12 for seven points.
400 SC Meter Freestyle
- Tyler Cusano finished third overall with a time of 4:26.88 for 12 points, followed by Dominic Papiro in sixth place with a time of 4:52.66, Leo LaPorte in seventh with a time of 4:56.15 and Bryce Castellone with a time of 4:58.80 for eighth place.
100 SC Meter Butterfly
- Bailey Peters turned in a time of 1:02.89 for fifth place and 10 points while Timothy Kanaly was ninth with a time of 1:03.86 for four points.
200 SC Meter IM
- Bryce Castellone won the 200 SC Meter Individual Medley with a time of 2:18.30.
- The Owls held three of the top four spots in the event as Chandler Tucker was third at 2:21.17 and Max Padro finished fourth at 2:21.60.
Women
1 Meter Diving
- Cecilia Vess placed fifth in the 1 Meter Diving event with a score of 167.25 to collect 10 points for the Owls.
800 SC Meter Freestyle
- Faith Littleton placed third out of 14 in the 800 SC Meter Freestyle event with a time of 9:43.32 to pick up 12 points for Southern.
- Anya Celmer finished 11th in the vent with a time of 10:19.88 for two points followed by Loren Wurst in 12th place with a time of 10:35.05 to grab the last point in the event.
200 SC Meter Freestyle
- The Owls featured two swimmers in the top eight of the 16-participant field in the 200 SC Meter Freestyle event, led by Avery Fornaciari in 4th place with a time of 2:15.12 for 11 points followed by Alina Tucker in 8th place with a time of 2:16.14 for five points.
100 SC Meter Backstroke
- The Owls grabbed three spots in the top-10 of the 100 SC Meter Backstroke competition, led by Morgan Fernald in 8th place with a time of 1:10.79 (5 pts.), followed by Hannah Nyquist in 9th place at 1:10.83 (4 pts.) and Lauren Spencer in 10th with a time of 1:10.90 (3 pts.).
100 SC Meter Breaststroke
- Erin Leirey led the Owls in the 100 SC Meter Breaststroke event with a time of 1:20.77 for a fifth-place finish and 10 points for Southern.
- Maddie Dean was 11th at 1:23.48 for two points followed by Alina Tucker in 12th place at 1:23.49 for one point.
200 SC Meter Butterfly
- Hannah Nyquist was the top point-scorer for the Owls in the 200 SC Meter Butterfly with a time of 2:42.11 for five points.
100 SC Meter Butterfly
- Morgan Fernald picked up three points in the 100 SC Meter Butterfly with a time of 1:04.84 for 11th place, while Jordan Thompson‘s 13th place finish in the event with a time of 1:05.24 also earned the Owls another point.
200 SC Meter Backstroke
- Anya Celmer was 12th in the 200 SC Meter Backstroke with a time of 2:39.95 for two points.
200 SC Meter Breaststroke
- Faith Littleton earned two more points with an 11th place finish in the 200 SC Meter Breaststroke with a time of 3:02.05.
400 SC Meter Freestyle
- Jordan Thompson was ninth with a time of 4:55.76 to earn the Owls four points while Emily Darroch was 11th for two points.
100 SC Meter Butterfly
- Erin Leirey turned in a time of 1:12.20 to finish 9th for four points.
200 SC Meter Individual Medley
- Nicole Cislo chipped in five points for the Owls with a time of 2:36.46 to finish 8th in the 200 SC Meter Individual Medley.
- Maddie Dean also placed 11th with a time of 2:37.06 for two points.
UP NEXT
Southern is back in action when they travel to UConn on Saturday, Oct. 5.
Courtesy: Pace Athletics
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Seeing their first action of the 2019-20 season, the Pace University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams competed on Saturday at the Fairfield Invitational.
Women’s Recap (4th Place)
Leigha Kosakowski’s (Selkirk, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) sixth-place finish in the 50-free led the way for the Setters. The junior raced to a time of 28.66 in the event.
Freshman Cristina Rosario Perez (Maunabo, Puerto Rico/Woodside Priory School) also impressed in her Pace debut, placing seventh in the 200-IM with a mark of 2:36.23.
Junior Annabel Keppel-Palmer (Kent, England/Maidstone Grammar School) put together a strong event of her own in the 200-back, posting an eighth-place effort in the 200-back (2:32.60).
On the diving front, sophomore Amy Calandro (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) finished sixth in the one-meter (150.15) and fifth in the three-meter (181.87)
Men’s Recap (3rd Place)
Junior Joshua Lozano (Helotes, Texas/O’Connor) served as Pace’s top swimmer on Saturday. The Texas native took home first place in the 800-free (9:11.36) before nabbing third in the 200-fly (2:20.47).
Classmate Filip Turecky (State College, Pa./State College Area) also put forth strong results in Pace’s opener. The Pennsylvania native placed second in the 200-back with a time of 2:17.62, while also finishing third in the 100-back (1:02.24).
In diving action, Patrick Dwyer (Tomkins Cove, N.Y./North Rockland) was terrific in his first meet of the season. The sophomore’s mark of 244.2 in the one-meter produced a second-place finish while a 187.65 in the three-meter put him third.
Up Next
The Setters will have close to a month off before competing again. Pace’s home debut will take place on Oct. 25 against Queensborough.
