Fairfield Women Hold Early Lead On Night 1 Of MAAC Championships

2024 METRO ATLANTIC ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (MAAC) CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • Dates: Wednesday, February 14 – Saturday, February 17
  • Location: Spire Institute, Geneva, OH
  • Teams: Canisius, Fairfield, Iona, Manhattan, Marist, Monmouth, Niagara, Rider, Siena (women only), Mount St. Mary’s
  • Combined
  • Defending Champions (men): Rider (11x)
  • Defending Champions (women): Fairfield (1x)
  • Meet Central
  • Live Results
  • Live Video
  • Digital Program
  • SwimSwam Fan Guide 

The MAAC Championships kicked off in Geneva, Ohio tonight with the 200 medley relay, 800 free relay, and women’s 1 meter diving event.

Women’s Recap

The defending team champions of Fairfield kicked the meet off winning the 200 medley relay in a conference record. The team of Erini Pappas, Tone Sandsjoe, Maggie O’Donnell, and Nora Segurola Larringa swam to a final time of a 1:41.70, about half a second ahead of Mount St Mary’s who touched in a 1:42.23. Pappas had a big backstroke split for Fairfield as she split a 25.66, the only sub-26 split of the field.

The Niagara women finished only four points behind Fairfield last year and earned a win here on night one as they won the 800 free relay in a 7:29.57. The relay consisted of Paige South, Claire Gorton, Megan Jackson, and Mary Carl. All four swimmers were under the 1:53 mark. Canisius’s lead-off leg from Evie Leighton had the fastest split of the field as she swam a 1:50.42 on the lead-off leg, helping the team to a second-place finish.

Diving helped Fairfield claim an early lead at the meet as Alexis Gaulin won the 1 meter in a 274.80 and Fairfield teammate Lillian Tonole was 3rd. Niagara had no divers in the ‘A’ final.

Team Scores After Day 1:

  1. Fairfield 127
  2. Marist 98
  3. Rider 81
  4. Niagara 72
  5. Siena 72
  6. Canisius 62
  7. Mount St Mary’s 58
  8. Iona 56
  9. Manhattan 36
  10. Saint Peters 14

Men’s Recap

The men’s side is expected to be a battle between Marist and Rider and the two did not disappoint today. Rider earned the win in the 200 medley relay as the team of Lucas Racevivius, Billy Ruddy, Nicky Lane, and Bobby Irwin swam to a final time of a 1:29.04. It was an extremely tight race as the top seven teams all finished within a second of each other. Marist’s relay fell to seventh as they touched in a 1:29.99.

The Marist men bounced back and earned the win in the 800 free relay. The relay of Ethan McCormac, Oscar Bjering, Chris Dauser, and Adam Zaremba touched in a 6:33.81. McCormac led the relay off in a 1:36.55, the fastest of any split in the field tonight. All four members of Marist’s relay split under the 1:40 mark. McCormac’s swim marked a new Marist school record and the team’s winning time also was a new school record. The Rider men only improved upon their seed time by 0.30 seconds as they finished 6th in a 6:46.12.

Team Scores After Day 1:

  1. Rider 66
  2. Marist 64
  3. Niagara 62
  4. Iona/Fairfield 60
  5. Canisius 58
  6. Mount St Mary’s 56
  7. Saint Peters 46
  8. Manhattan 36

0
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

About Anya Pelshaw

Anya Pelshaw

Anya has been with SwimSwam since June 2021 as both a writer and social media coordinator. She was in attendance at the 2022 and 2023 Women's NCAA Championships writing and doing social media for SwimSwam. Currently, Anya is pursuing her B.A. in Economics and a minor in Government & Law at …

Read More »