BUFFALO — The Niagara swimming & diving teams turned in a number of strong performance in the second day of MAAC Championship competition, and broke two school records in the process. Shawn Warner broke his own Niagara record in the men’s 200 IM finals at 1:50.31, while the women’s relay team of Sydney Kligys, Annie Eckhardt, Julia Casolo, and Kristen Suarez improved upon their 200 free relay record time that they set earlier this season, placing third in 1:36.36.
Warner, Andreas Rintel, and Nicolas Winograd provided Niagara with three of the eight spots in the ‘A’ final of the men’s 200 IM, with Warner leading the way in a second-place finish. Kligys and Casolo placed in the top eight of the women’s 50 free, with Kligys securing fifth place followed by Casolo in seventh.
With two of four days in the books at the 2017 MAAC Swimming & Diving Championships, both the Niagara men and women sit in fifth place out of 10 teams.
Tickets for the event can be purchased here for fans looking to attend the final two days of the championships, and a full schedule of events can be found here. Friday’s preliminary sessions begin at 10 a.m., with the 1000 free preliminaries taking place at 3:30 p.m. Finals for Friday’s events begin at 6 p.m.
Men’s Day 2 Recap
- The highlight of the day for the Purple Eagles men’s team was a threesome of finishers in the ‘A’ final of the men’s 200 IM. Warner’s second-place finish of 1:50.31 broke his own school record of 1:50.70, set at the 2016 MAAC Championships.
- In fourth place in the men’s 200 IM was Andreas Rintel, who set a career-best with a time of 1:52.30. Rintel’s fellow sophomore, Nicolas Winograd, took eighth with a 1:53.89. Justin Sagasta (2:02.02), Christopher Fritschi (2:05.68), Ryan Storms (2:06.09), Kevin Verdejo (2:07.00) and Conor Diggs (2:07.81) all set season-highs in the 200 IM preliminaries.
- Both Daniel Ronen and Alexander Pizzo placed in the ‘B’ final for the men’s 500 free. Ronen swam a career-best 4:40.95, placing 13th. Pizzo set a season-high with a 4:42.32 in the preliminaries, and finished with a time of 4:45.18 in the finals to finish 16th.
- Robert Brown (21.74), James Crumm (21.84), Trevor Kline (22.79), and Nathan Booth (23.32) all set season-best times in the preliminaries of the men’s 50 free.
- The men’s 200 free relay team of Warner, Winograd, Crumm, and Brown came within one-tenth of a second of another program record, placing sixth with a time of 1:24.40.
Women’s Day 2 Recap
- In the finals of the women’s 200 free relay, Sydney Kligys, Annie Eckhardt, Julia Casolo, and Kristen Suarez broke their school record with a time of 1:36.36, good for third place. The foursome previously set the record at 1:36.71 during December’s Zippy Invitational.
- Three Niagara women placed among the top 16 of the 50 free, including Kligys and Casolo placing in the ‘A’ final. Kligys, who holds the school record at 24.00 in the 50 free, placed fifth with a time of 24.15. She was followed closely by Casolo, who swam a career-best time finishing four-hundredths of a second behind Kligys at 24.19.
- Suarez swam a season-best time of 24.68 in the 50 free preliminaries, finishing 15th in the finals with a time of 24.77. Eckhardt (25.01) and Santana Sawma (27.15) set season-highs in the preliminaries of the 50 free along with Suarez.
- Hannah Charlton finished tops for Niagara in the women’s 200 IM, placing in the ‘B’ final and finishing 14th with a time of 2:13.11. Nastassja Posso set a season-high time of 2.16.61 during the preliminaries of the 200 IM.
- Montanna Valler led Niagara in the women’s 500 free at 5:36.01, followed by Claire Schoemick at 5:53.91. Both times were season-best marks for Valler and Schoemick.
Diving Board: Women’s 3-Meter
- Haily Atkins placed in the top eight of the women’s 3-meter diving event with a preliminary score of 194.40. Her finals score of 191.75 was good for seventh place.
- Cara Mergner secured first place in the consolation final with a score of 202.45, placing ninth overall.
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