YOUNGSTOWN — The Purple Eagles women’s swimming and diving team competed in a Friday night meet on the road against the Youngstown State Penguins. Multiple swimmers posted season-best results, but Niagara was outscored by Youngstown State 171-109.

In the relay events, Lauren Nicastro, Bridgette Ehrmann, Julia Casolo, and Sydney Kligys took third with a 1:53.70 in the 200 medley relay. Casolo and Nicastro swam with Brianna Smith and Kristen Suarez in the 400 free relay, finishing in 3:46.23. Casolo swam her best 100 butterfly of the season (58.79) but finished in second place, trailing Youngstown State’s Rachel Shipp by sixteen-hundredths of a second. She also took second in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:16.09. Ehrmann posted a pair of strong individual times, swimming a 1:11.24 in the 100 breaststroke and a 2:34.95 in the 200 breaststroke. Kligys earned a pair of second-place finishes in the 50 free (25.56) and 100 free (55.90). Haily Atkins (224.65), Emily Deck (211.00), and Cara Mergner (192.50) posted season-highs on the 1-meter dive. All three posted season-best marks on the 3-meter dive as well. Atkins scored a 217.20 to lead the Purple Eagles in that event, followed by Deck (207.60) and Mergner (204.00).

Head coach Ben Nigro said, “While we were outmatched by a great Youngstown State team, all of our ladies were at or faster than their season-best times. On the board, the divers all posted their best scores of the year. I am very proud of the effort shown today.”

The Purple Eagles host their first two home meets of the 2016-17 season next weekend. The Niagara men and women welcome the University of Waterloo for a 2 p.m. dual meet on Nov. 5. Both teams return to action the next morning at 9 a.m. against Colgate University.

from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT