AMHERST — On Saturday, the Niagara swimming and diving teams completed their first weekend of meet action since the Zippy Invitational back on Dec. 2-4, 2016. Shawn Warner’s second-place finish of 52.88 in the 100 yard IM highlighted the men’s team’s performance in Niagara’s dual meet at the University at Buffalo on Saturday. Warner came within two-tenths of a second of breaking his program record in that event. Freshman Trevor Kline also earned a second-place finish in the 100 free with a time of 52.05.
On the women’s side, Julia Casolo led the way with a third-place finish in the 150 butterfly, opening the second half of the season in preparation for February’s MAAC Championships.
The Niagara divers also participated in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events Friday and Saturday during the UB Diving Invitational. JaRon Williams led the way for the Purple Eagles with a seventh-place finish in the 3-meter championship and an eighth-place finish in the men’s 1-meter championship.
- The Niagara women were led by Sydney Kligys, Bridgette Ehrmann, Hannah Charlton, and Julia Casolo in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:54.98. On the men’s side, Christopher Fritschi, Nicolas Winograd, Matthew Ricks, and James Crumm paced the Purple Eagles at 1:41.36.
- Montana Valler, who holds top-5 Niagara times in the 500 free and 1000 free, led Niagara with a time of 9:15.52 in the 800 free at Buffalo, good for third place.
- Daniel Ronen led Niagara in the men’s 800 free at 8:01.28, followed by Justin Sagasta at 8:25.86.
- Crumm (1.19:57) finished tops among Niagara swmmers in the men’s 150 free, and Nastassja Posso (1:28.02) led the women in that event.
- Casolo (25.61) and Ricks (22.87) earned fourth-place finishes in the women’s and men’s 50 free events, respectively.
- Warner earned the best finish of the day for Niagara in the men’s 100 IM, swimming a 52.88 and finishing second to UB’s Scott Huang (51.79).
- Casolo and Hannah Charlton continued to post strong times in the butterfly events. Casolo took third in the women’s 150 butterfly at 1:35.49, while Charlton finished fifth in 1:38.18.
- In the men’s 150 butterfly, Warner (1:27.61) and Ronen (1:28.87) paced the Purple Eagles.
- Trevor Kline’s 52.05 in the men’s 100 free gave Niagara another second-place finish.
- Angelica Gordon led Niagara in the women’s 150 backstroke at 1:42.68, while Andreas Rintel led the men at 1:30.95.
- Daniel Leskowicz posted an impressive 4:01.75 in the men’s 400 free.
- Ehrmann (1:53.94) and Annie Eckhardt (1:55.37) led Niagara in the women’s 150 breaststroke, and on the men’s side it was Winograd (1:38.57) and Rintel (1:41.23) leading the way.
- Niagara closed the meet with the 200 free relays. Suarez, Brianna Smith, Posso, and Lauren Nicastro led the women with a time of 1:45.87, and Warner, Kline, Leskowicz, and Andrew Wilson paced the Niagara men at 1:30.54.
Senior JaRon Williams advanced to the men’s final events for both 1-meter and 3-meter diving. He scored a 220.15 in the 1-meter final to finish eighth, and a 239.90 to take seventh in the 3-meter.
Khallid Lewis posted scores of 119.70 and 126.65 in the preliminaries for the men’s 1-meter and 3-meter, respectively. On the women’s side, Haily Atkins and Cara Mergner took part in both the women’s 1-meter and 3-meter events. In the preliminary rounds, Atkins scored a 203.40 in the 1-meter event and a 207.65 in the 3-meter event, while Mergner earned scores of 156.20 on the 1-meter board and 178.00 at 3-meter.
Niagara hosts rival Canisius at the Oxy Aquatic Center for a dual meet on Jan. 21 starting at 1 p.m. The Purple Eagles and Golden Griffins will compete for the first time this year, while Battle of the Bridge points will be on the line at the MAAC Championships, which start Feb. 8. The Niagara women will also host a home meet against the University of New Hampshire at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 22.
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