NJIT vs Iona (Men)
- October 4, 2024
- Newark, N.J.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: NJIT Athletics
NEWARK, N.J. – The NJIT swimming and diving team recorded its first win of the season against Iona, defeating the Gaels 79-63 on Friday at the Joel and Diane Bloom Wellness and Events Center (WEC).
Aiden Ban swept the diving events, winning the 1-meter dive with a score of 262.65 and the 3-meter dive with a score of 259.45.
The Highlanders won nine swimming events against Iona. Aidan Blackmon, RJ Farina, Matthew Piacentini, and Tanish Chhabra won the 200 yard medley relay by 0.25 seconds, posting a time of 1:34.71.
NJIT also won the 6×166 yard freestyle relay with a time of 8:41.70. The team included Adam Mekrami, Vincent Coppola, Sam Lorenc, Leo Smilevski, Aiden Nugent, and Keegan Wooding.
Chhabra and Zac Kuzak won the 2×100 yard freestyle relay, recording a time of 1:36.06. Piacentini and Pawel Drzymala won the 2×100 butterfly relay, clocking a time of 1:44.09.
Chhabra and Piacentini secured their third event win of the day in the 2×50 yard freestyle relay, finishing in 43.48 seconds. Bartosz Bryg and Borys Endlé claimed victory in the 2×100 yard backstroke relay, clocking in at 1:58.04.
The Red and Blue won the 6×83 yard freestyle relay, recording a time of 4:01.90. The team included Kuzak, Oxford Bayley, Lorenc, Coppola, Mekrami, and Michael McGillycuddy.
Mizell McEachin and Ryan Hause won the 2×50 butterfly relay with a time of 47.88, narrowly beating Piacentini and Drzymala by 0.01 seconds. Sam Deemer and Farina won the 2×100 yard medley relay, finishing in 1:44.74.
NEXT UP
The Highlanders will host Howard and Saint Peter’s for the NJIT Invitational on October 11-12 at the WEC.
Courtesy: Iona Athletics
NEWARK, NJ – The 2024-25 Iona University Men’s and Women’s dual meet season got underway Friday in Newark, New Jersey in splashing style as the Iona women defeated MAAC rival, Siena College 159-135 at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
The men – competing against NJIT of the America East, competed in an unusual format that saw 13 relay events and 3 individual events, that resulted in a spirited, back-and-forth battle – that saw the host Highlanders prevail 79-63, using a “traditional scoring format” agreed to by both teams.
“This was a great way for our team to open the season, “commented Coach Nick Cavataro, who begins his 44th season as Head Coach of the Gaels. “Our women won eight individual events and both relays against a team that beat us at Hynes last year by 74-points. Our women were very motivated today and it showed in the results”.
MEET SUMMARY
Leading the way for the Iona women was Senior Co-Captain Ashley Benkert, who touched first in the 100 and 200-yard Butterfly events with respective times of 58.18 and 2:11.82 as well as swimming the Butterfly leg on the winning 200-Medley relay and posting the fastest split on the 400-yard Freestyle Relay. In the 200-Medley relay Benkert combined with Freshmen Raegan O’Brien and Graduate Students Julia Moser and Megan Josephs for a 1.05 second win at 1:49.17.
The 400-yard Freestyle Relay saw Benkert post a 53.44 split in the third position as Josephs and Moser gave the team an early lead and sophomore Kate Kennedy closed to win easily by 3.2 seconds at 3:37.58. “Benkert, Josephs and Moser really set the pace for us today in the very first event and we never looked back,” added Cavataro.
Sophomore freestyler Kate Kennedy touched first in the 200 and 500-yard Freestyle at 1:58.33 and 5:19.34, respectively to join Benkert as a double winner. Juniors Katherine Sarnes took the 1000-yard Freestyle at 10:52.43 and Brennyn Veit won the 200-Individual Medley at 2:13.45. Freshmen Raegan O’Brien and Hailey Baker each posted their first collegiate wins, with respective wins in the 200-Back at 2;10.43 and 200-Breaststroke at 2:30.09.
The Iona men touched first in three relays, including the 400-yard Freestyle relay where the 2024 MAAC Champion quartet of Kieran Egan, Nate Wales, Liam Pyatt and Michael Faughnan touched first to win by 4.55 at 3:08.56. The men also grabbed the 2 x 100-yard Backstroke Relay as Faughnan (48.62) and Egan (50.50) to clock 1:39.12 and later returned to take the 2 x 50-yard Backstroke relay with Egan (23.81) and Faughnan (21.50) for a 45.31 time.
UP NEXT
The teams return to action on Homecoming weekend Oct. 18-19 at the Hynes Pool when they host Long Island University on Friday and then compete in the annual Saturday Tri-Meet with new MAAC members Sacred Heart University and Wagner College.
