Results
EMMITSBURG, MD – The Manhattan College men's and women's swimming & diving teams began the Joe Murtha Era on Saturday afternoon with a double dual meet against VMI and host Mount St. Mary's. Both teams earned a split on the 2016-17 season's first day. The men notched a 133-78 win over Mount St. Mary's and fell to VMI by a 119-94 count, while the women's team beat VMI 126-67 and lost 136-78 to the Mountaineers at the Mount St. Mary's Swimming Pool.
Manhattan turned in a number of strong performances on the men's side. The Jaspers started the meet by taking second overall in the 200 meter medley relay. Neil Perry (Elkridge, MD) then set a pool record of 24.74 seconds in the 50 meter freestyle. Meanwhile, Rich Llewellyn (East Islip, NY) earned a pair of second-place finishes in the 100 meter butterfly (59.24) and 200 meter freestyle (2:01.43).
Evan Battisti (East Meadow, NY) had the second-fastest time overall in both the 400 meter freestyle (4:20.87) and 800 meter freestyle (9:11.78). Liam Ridge's (Pearl River, NY) 9:25.28 clocking in the 800 free was good for fourth place overall. Manhattan also had a pair of freshmen go 2-3 in the 100 meter breaststroke, with Timothy Valentine (Massapequa, NY) notching a time of 1:08.39 and Tyler Dalton (East Stroudsburg, PA) finishing in 1:11.60.
In the 1-meter diving competition, Manhattan swept the top three places. Dylan Cooney (Port Jervis, NY) earned the win with 197.80 points, while Gareth O'Connor (Valhalla, NY) tallied 134.55 points and Matthew Broadmeadow (Seekonk, MA) recorded 132.85 points.
“Overall, it was a great effort on the men's side,” Murtha said. “We had some outstanding performances from all grade levels, and it showed that the training we have been doing over the last five-six weeks is paying off.”
On the women's side, Alexandra Hutzler (Miller Place, NY) led a 1-2-4 finish in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:18.51. Klaudia Nagrabska (Belmont, MA) was second in 1:19.94, and Audrey Corcoran (West Boylston, MA) posted a time of 1:22.61 to grab fourth place. Hutzler also placed second in the 200 meter individual medley (2:32.97).
Kali Nembach (Lynbrook, NY) had a successful debut meet. She finished second overall in the 100 freestyle (1:03.07) and added a third-place showing in the 50 meter freestyle (28.85). Sara Buckley (East Setauket, NY) ended up just behind her teammate, taking fourth in the 50 free with a time of 29.43 seconds. Carolyn Crocker (Broad Channel, NY) (2:17.87) and Kathryn Voitik (Moscow, PA) (2:17.95) went 2-3 in the 200 meter freestyle, while Cassandra Rubino (Thiells, NY) took third place in the 100 meter butterfly (1:10.95).
Other top performers on the women's side were Yvonne Corcoran (West Boylston, MA), who finished third in both the 400 freestyle (4:50.23) and 800 freestyle (9:55.22), and Caitlin Gibbons (Valhalla, NY), who recorded 100.50 points to take fourth in 1-meter diving.
“I'm impressed with everyone's ability to get up and race,” Murtha said. “The women really showed up this afternoon ready to perform against some very good teams. Hopefully this sets the tone for the rest of the season. It was also great to get my first career wins for both teams out of the way on our first day of competition.”
Up next for Manhattan is the home opener against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) rival Fairfield. The Jaspers and Stags will square off at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Ethical Cultural Fieldston School.
