The women of Saint Peter’s dominated the top of the podium on day 2 of the MAAC Championships, sweeping the individual swimming races, but it’s Marist who leads the points by a wide margin.
On the men’s side, freshman sensation Zack Molloy won two more races and broke conference records in both to help the Rider men retain their lead.
Women’s Meet
The Saint Peter’s Peacocks were nearly unbeatable at the top, sweeping all three individual events on day 2. That started with a huge conference-record win in the 500 free from sophomore Matea Samardzic.
Samardzic, who swam on both the team’s relays on night 1, went 4:50.46, blowing the rest of the A final out of the water. That broke the meet record by over a second. Canisius freshman Rebecca Anthone was second in 5:00.29.
Another Saint Peter’s sophomore won the 200 IM. That was Marie Feneron, who went 2:04.70 to also win by a wide margin. Feneron had the field’s best fly split, best breast split and second-best back split en route to the title.
Finally, it was Rachel Wuko holding her own for Saint Peter’s upperclassmen. Wuko’s 22.97 broke the MAAC record and made her the conference’s first swimmer ever under 23 seconds.
But the defending conference champs out of Marist used their depth and diving to ultimately put up more points than the top-heavy Saint Peter’s program. Marist went 1-2-3 in diving, led by senior Kimberly Tobias (255.55 points), and then won the 200 free relay.
That relay featured Georgia Goldman, Colleen Lampe, Bridget Curley and Meredith Wurtz, and went 1:34.95. Wurtz was 23.06 on her split to lead the team.
That leaves Marist currently in the lead by a wide margin, and in great shape to repeat as conference champs.
Top 5 Teams
- Marist – 312
- Canisius – 188
- Rider – 159
- Saint Peter’s – 154
- Siena – 131
Men’s Meet
Rider freshman Zack Molloy has been the star of the meet so far, and he kept things up on day 2. After eclipsing both the conference 200 free and 800 free relay records while leading off the Rider 800 free relay last night, Molloy doubled up again on the second day.
First, he took the 500 free, blasting a 4:22.74 that obliterated the old MAAC record by nearly four seconds. Second in that race was Marist sophomore Ryan Murphy, who also went under the old record with a 4:26.31. That was a repeat of last night’s 800 free relay leadoff, where both swimmers also cracked the old conference record.
Molly would come back to split 19.90 on the record-setting Rider 200 free relay. Matthan-Matthew Martir, Jeffrey Prichard and Ian Flynn joined him on the squad to go 1:21.40. Flynn was a field-best 19.85 to help Rider break its own MAAC record set back in 2009.
It was a night of youth for the conference, as another freshman also claimed an event title. Bryant’s Benjamin Schulte won the 200 IM in a tough touchout, coming from behind on Saint Peter’s Johnatan Gomez for the win in 1:48.62. Gomez was 1:48.75 for second place.
Marist senior John Spitzer successfully defending his 2014 title in the 50 free, going 20.67, about two tenths faster than he was last year. Spitzer had a tough fight from Rider’s Martir, who went 20.70 to take runner-up honors.
Canisius senior Eddie Quarantillo also defended a title, winning 3-meter diving for the Golden Griffs. Quarantillo scored 329.10 points to win by nearly 40.
As it stands now, the Rider men are in great shape to repeat as MAAC champs, but Marist is keeping things surprisingly close after two days.
Top 5 Teams
- Rider – 259.5
- Marist – 222
- Canisius – 181
- Saint Peter’s – 179
- Iona – 111
