BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Manhattan men's swim team continued to bring the program to new heights with an eighth place finish in the 2013 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships. Both the ranking, and their point total of 226, were the highest marks in school history.
The Jaspers day began in the 200 yard backstroke where Lance Neuendorf continued to make a name for himself. After qualifying for the finals in the event with a school record time of 1:51.42 seconds, he would finish with a second place finish in the MAAC's with a time of 1:50.39 seconds, another school record. That mark was just 0.07 seconds behind first place finisher Jeffrey Prichard of Rider. Cullen Balcanoff also competed in the event, earning a 14th place finish with a time of 1:55.53 seconds.
Robert Varieur, competing in his final MAAC Championships, took sixth in the 100 free with a time of 46.17 seconds. Dennis Daly also made a finals appearance in the 200 breaststroke. His preliminary time of 2:06.33 seconds broke his own school mark, helping him to finish eighth overall. Mike Mackay also competed in the event, placing 10th with a time of 2:06.51 seconds.
In the 200 butterfly, junior PJ Sweeney, finished 15th in the event with a time of 1:56.87 seconds. The 400 freestyle relay team of Neuendorf, Mickey Ruddy, Dallan Treanor and Varieur placed eighth with a school record time of 3:08.13 seconds.
For the women, Kerry Schuermann qualified for the consolation finals in the 200 back by breaking her own school record with a time of 2:12.26 seconds. She would later finish the event in 16th place. One more program mark would fall in the final women's event of the weekend. Kim Geissler, Vanessa L'Heureux, Melanie Tam and Brianne Grant combined to beat the old Manhattan mark from two years ago in the MAAC's with a time of 3:46.70 seconds.
The Manhattan women completed the weekend with 77 points, finishing in 10th place overall. In total, 21 school records fell over the weekend and the Jaspers qualified for 49 events at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships in Boston, Mass.
