NIAGARA UNIV. — The Niagara men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams honored nine of their graduating players during Saturday’s dual meet at the Oxy Aquatic Center against the rival Canisius Golden Griffins. Senior Shawn Warner was a double-winner in the men’s final home meet of the 2016-17 season, while Sydney Kligys took first in the women’s 50 free and helped Niagara to a 200 medley relay victory.
Nicolas Winograd was the top overall finisher for Niagara, earning a trio of individual wins (200 IM, 100 and 200 breaststroke). The women’s results were highlighted by a 1-2 sweep of the two butterfly races by Julia Casolo and Hannah Charlton. The men’s team was outscored by Canisius 177.5 to 122.5, while the women fell 186-113 in their matchup against the Golden Griffins. Niagara won nine of 32 events overall against Canisius.
Midway through the meet, Niagara honored its nine graduating members for their contributions to the program: Robert Brown, James Crumm, Christopher Fritschi, Khallid Lewis, Shawn Warner, and JaRon Williams from the men’s team, and Sydney Kligys, Cara Mergner, and Montanna Valler from the women’s team.
Dual Meet Recap: Niagara Men
- Senior Shawn Warner picked up two individual wins in his final home meet as a Purple Eagle. Warner swam the top times in both the 200 butterfly (1:53.68) and the 100 butterfly (51.22).
- The Purple Eagles finished 1-2-3 in the men’s 200 IM. Nicolas Winograd took first in 1:58.01, followed closely by Warner in second (1:58.38) and Rintel in third (1:58.77). All three rank in the MAAC’s top 10 this season for the 200 IM.
- Winograd was a triple-winner against Canisius, adding a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 59.12 in addition to his 200 IM win. That time was one-hundredth of a second off of his season-low time of 59.11, set at December’s Zippy Invitational. He also swam the top 200 breaststroke time of the dual meet at 2:13.32.
- James Crumm picked up a second-place finish with a time of 48.75 in the 100 free, just five-hundredths of a second behind Canisius’ Cam MacDonald.
- Christopher Fritschi swam a 58.31 in the 100 back and a 2:07.02 in the 200 back in his final home meet.
- Robert Brown tied Canisius’ Kyle Griffin for second in the men’s 50 free as both finished with a time of 22.22.
- Rintel earned a pair of second-place finishes in the backstroke events, swimming a 54.32 in the 100 back and a 2:00.29 in the 200 back.
- Daniel Ronen earned two second-place finishes as well, finishing the 500 free in 4:56.60 and the 1000 free in 10:10.04.
- JaRon Williams turned in two of his best performances of the season on the diving board. He scored a 289.05 on the 3-meter board and a 269.70 on the 1-meter board. Both scores were good for third place.
- Khallid Lewis scored a 149.18 on the 1-meter board and a 155.25 on the 3-meter board.
Dual Meet Recap: Niagara Women
- Sydney Kligys, Bridgette Ehrmann, Julia Casolo, and Kristen Suarez opened the swimming portion of the meet with a 200 medley relay victory, finishing in 1:51.42.
- Individually, Kligys took first in the 50 free at 25.21 and finished third in the 100 free with a time of 55.22.
- Suarez finished six-hundredths of a second behind Kligys in the 50 free, giving Niagara a 1-2 finish with a 25.27.
- Montanna Valler capped Senior Day with a second-place finish of 11:45.58 in the 1000 free. She also swam a 500 free time of 5:54.11, placing fourth.
- Julia Casolo and Hannah Charlton dominated the women’s butterfly events, going 1-2, respectively, in both the 100 and 200 fly. Casolo was a double-winner individually with times of 58.99 in the 100 fly and 2:14.10 in the 200 fly.
- Charlton earned two second-place finishes with times of 1:00.91 and 2:15.44 in the 100 and 200 fly, respectively.
- Junior Cara Mergner, who is graduating after three years at Niagara, scored a 212.18 on the 1-meter diving board and a 198.23 on the 3-meter board. Both scores placed third among the women.
- Nastassja Posso picked up a season-best time in the 200 free, finishing in second place at 1:59.11.
- Ehrmann earned a second-place finish in the 200 breaststroke at 2:36.67, and finished third in the 100 breast at 1:12.50.
Niagara’s 2016-17 home schedule wraps up Sunday morning, as the women’s team hosts the University of New Hampshire Wildcats. The Purple Eagles’ second-last dual meet of the season will start at 10 a.m.
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