MAAC Day 3: Bryant Sets Records, but Rider and Fairfield Still Lead

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships – Men and Women

Women’s Recap

Yesterday, Fairfield went 3-3 in the individual events, but Marist freshman Jordyn Deubel put an end to that streak early tonight. She led the 400 IM from start to finish, touching in 4:28.12 to win by over two seconds, ahead of Fairfield’s Rachel Landry (4:30.35) and Shannon Feeley (4:30.89).

No fear for Fairfield, as they quickly got back to their winning ways with Morgan Hansen‘s 2nd win of the meet, a 55.38 victory in the 100 fly to follow up her 200 IM win from last night. Last year’s champion, Iona’s Aly Chain, took 2nd tonight in 56.68, over a second off her 55.52 winning time from 2018.

Sarah Herbold kept things going for Fairfield with a two second win the 200 free, thanks in part to really consistent splits. After going out in 26.03, she split 28.39/28.70/28.65 to take the win in 1:51.77. The race for 2nd was incredibly tight, but Monmouth’s Louise Barker split 29.44 over the final 50 to run down Kelly Cordes and Maria Nitti, both of Fairfield. Barker touched in 1:53.90, and the other two in 1:53.92 and 1:53.94, respectively.

In the 100 breast, Niagra’s Hayley Tasselmyer and defending champion Colleen Young of Fairfield touched the wall halfway through the race within 0.02s of each other, but Tasselmyer turned on the afterburners in the final lap, splitting 33.75 to Young’s 34.31 to take the win in 1:03.75. Young finished 2nd in 1:40.33, over three-tenths faster than her winning time from last year.

Fairfield had a 93 point lead over Marist heading into the 100 back, but that gap would close considerably since Fairfield did not put a single swimmer into either final of this event. Instead, Rider’s Kayla May held off Monmouth’s Camryn McHugh and Rider’s Taylor Stalnaker to win in 55.77, with McHugh going 55.99 and Stalnaker 56.06. Stalkaker was the 2018 champion in this event, and improved her time by almost a second since last year, even if she came up a bit short in terms of placing. Marist put swimmers into the top eight, which was enough to earn 28 points and close a little bit on Fairfield.

But Fairfield bounced right back with a win in the 400 medley relay to close off the night. They were only in 4th after Cordes and Young went 59.42 and 1:04.14 for the first two legs, but Hansen and Herbold split 55.17 and 51.92 to make up almost two and a half seconds on Rider, to win in 3:50.65.

Women’s Scores Through Day 3

1. Fairfield University 509
2. Marist College Swimming/Diving 436
3. Rider University 380
4. Canisius College 240
5. Iona College 229
6. Niagara University 202
7. Monmouth University 191
8. Siena College 134
9. Saint Peter’s University 73
10. Manhattan College 58

Men’s Recap

Yesterday, a meet record by Micah Ornelas prevented Rider’s Luke Musselman from defending his 200 IM title, but Musselman didn’t let anything stop him today in the 400 IM. He led from start to finish, dropped almost three seconds from last year’s time, and won by over three seconds, touching in 3:51.42. Fairfield freshman Evan Fair took 2nd in 3:54.70.

The aforementioned Ornelas didn’t take long to shine, though. The Bryant senior had set a new conference and meet record in the 100 fly prelims, going 46.70. He wasn’t quite as fast this evening, but still won by over half a second, registering a time of 46.80 Rider’s Justin Carey took 3nd in 47.43.

The 200 free saw the first real battle of the evening. Last night’s 50 free champion, Vincent Gibbons, led at the halfway point with a 47.53, but Callan Smith (last night’s 500 free champion), and Marist’s Miguel Madeira were tracking right behind him. Madeira cemented his lead over Smith with a 25.29 3rd 50, and then outsplit Gibbons by over a second down the stretch to win with a 1:39.03, with Smith taking 2nd in 1:39.27 and Gibbons 3rd in 1:39.53.

Bryant’s Tavish Boyle made it four in a row for seniors tonight, taking the 100 breast in 54.39, winning by over a second. Luke Kennedy of Canisius and Nick Winograd of Nigagra dueled it out for 2nd, with Kennedy coming out on top, 55.59 to 55.87.

Carey became the first, and only, non-senior to win a men’s event tonight, defending his title in the 100 back with a 47.46. It’s worth noting that Madeira opted for the fairly unusual 200 free/100 back double, placing 8th here after winning the 200 free just a few events before.

Bryant closed out the session with a meet record in the 400 medley relay, winning in 3:13.39, almost three seconds faster than the previous record. Boyle split 53.13 on the breast leg, well over a second faster than his individual time, and Orenalas split 46.18 on the fly. 100 back champ Carey was a tick faster leading off the relay than he was in his individual swim, helping Rider to a 3:15.64 and a 2nd place finish.

Men’s Scores After Day 3

1. Rider University 546
2. Bryant University 397
3. Marist College Swimming/Diving 345.5
4. Iona College 276
5. Canisius College 221
6. Monmouth University 208
7. Niagara University 176
8. Saint Peter’s University 169
9. Fairfield University 161.5
10. Manhattan College 108

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About Robert Gibbs