The Niagara Purple Eagles swimming and diving teams have completed their regular-season schedule and now look to the 2017 MAAC Championships, which begin Wednesday at the Burt Flickinger Center in Buffalo. The four-day championship event begins at 3 p.m. on Feb. 8. A full schedule of events and tickets to the MAAC Swimming & Diving Championships are available at the links above.
Niagara earned six first-place finishes in its final meet of the regular season at St. Bonaventure on Jan. 28. JaRon Williams was a double-winner for Niagara, sweeping the men’s diving events with scores of 279.98 on the 1-meter board and 249.00 on the 3-meter board. Nicolas Winograd earned a first-place finish in the 200 IM with a season-best time of 1:57.08, and Shawn Warner took first in the 200 free with a time of 1:42.25. Kristen Suarez tied for first at St. Bonaventure in the 50 free, as she and the Bonnies’ Sam Kuchinski both timed a 25.25. The women’s 200 free relay team of Sydney Kligys, Lauren Nicastro, Julia Casolo, and Annie Eckhardt took first with a time of 1:41.31.
Niagara set four program records at the 2016 MAAC Championships and look for more of the same success in 2017. In addition to Shawn Warner’s 200 IM record, Nicolas Winograd also attained an individual record with a time of 57.94 in the 100 breaststroke. The Purple Eagles also set two program records in both the men’s and women’s 400 free relay. During the 2016-17 regular season, Warner broke the men’s 100 IM record in the first meet of the season. He swam a 52.71 at Fredonia on Oct. 8, 2016.
Shawn Warner is ranked in the top five for four events at the 2017 MAAC Championships. A two-time MAAC Male Swimmer of the Week this season, Warner is seeded second in the 200 IM, fourth in the 400 IM and 100 fly, and fifth in the 200 fly. Andreas Rintel is seeded in the top eight of three individual events: the 200 IM (fourth), 200 backstroke (sixth), and 400 IM (eighth). On the diving board, JaRon Williams is seeded fourth for both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Nicolas Winograd earned a top-10 seeding in both of the men’s breaststroke events, as he enters the MAAC Championships sixth in the 100 breaststroke and tenth in the 200 breaststroke. The program record holder for the 100 breaststroke, Winograd’s best time in that event during the 2016-17 regular season was 59.11. Alexander Pizzo, who was named MAAC Male Swimmer of the Week once this season, enters the MAAC Championships seeded tenth in the men’s 1000 free, 11th in the 200 free, and 15th in the 500 free. The Niagara men are seeded third in the 400 free relay, fourth in the 800 free relay and 400 medley relay, and fifth in the 200 free relay.
Sydney Kligys is ranked first in the women’s 100 fly, second in the 100 free, third in the 50 free, and fourth in the 100 backstroke heading into the MAAC Championships. Julia Casolo trails only Kligys in the 100 fly rankings. The season-best times for both Kligys (56.99) and Casolo (57.29) were both faster than Casolo’s time of 57.35 that was good for first place at the 2016 MAAC Championships. Casolo also ranks in the top 10 for the women’s 50 free (sixth) and 200 fly (tenth).
Hannah Charlton is ranked in the top 10 for three individual events; she is fourth in both the 100 and 200 fly in addition to seventh in the 200 IM. Angelica Gordon earned a ninth-place ranking in the women’s 200 backstroke. Kristen Suarez ranks seventh in the 200 free and tenth in the 50 free.
The Niagara women are seeded in the top three of all four relay events. The Purple Eagles enter the MAAC Championships with the regular season’s top time in the 200 free relay, second in the 200 medley relay, and third in both the 400 medley relay and the 400 free relay.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
