BRONX, New York – The Marist women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams will compete in their first road meet of the 2016-17 campaign when they take on Fordham at 6 p.m. Oct. 20.
The non-conference bout will mark the shortest turnaround for the Red Foxes in the regular season, as they are coming off Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victories against Canisius on Oct. 14 to begin the regular season. Thursday night’s meet will be the season opener for the Rams.
Last Time Out (Women)
Marist won its 36th consecutive regular season MAAC dual meet when it defeated the Golden Griffins 169-126. Senior captain Meredith Wurtz dominated the freestyle events, winning at 50 (24.77 seconds) and 100 (53.86 seconds) yards. She anchored the first place 200-yard medley (1:50.43) and 400-yard freestyle (3:40.24) relay teams. In the breaststroke events, senior Isabella Morreale took first place at 100 (1:07.41) and 200 yards (2:26.42) before picking up the MAAC Swimmer of the Week award.
Junior Megan Berardelli was the highest finisher on both diving boards, posting 254.25 points at one meter and 269.70 points at three meters. She earned the MAAC Diver of the Week award for her performance.
Last Time Out (Men)
Sophomore Miguel Madeira was a double winner in the Red Foxes’ 168-130 win over Canisius. He placed first in the 200- (1:43.81) and 500-yard (4:44.26) freestyle and clocked in at 48.47 seconds for second place in the 100-yard event. Senior Manuel Garcia swam on Marist’s 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relay squads that had the fastest times and took the top spot in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 52.54 seconds.
On the diving boards, junior Peter Gallino finished second at one meter (288.00 points) and third at three meters (265.57 points).
Scouting Fordham (Women)
Fordham went 9-2 in the 2015-16 regular season, falling to only Army West Point and Boston University. It finished fifth out of 11 teams at the Atlantic 10 Championships after racking up 392 points. Megan Polaha won the 200-yard IM (2:00.85) and 200-yard butterfly (1:58.46) at the conference title meet. Her 200-yard butterfly time set a school and A-10 record. Polaha also set a new Rams record in the 400-yard IM, clocking in at 4:16.55.
Wendy Espina-Esquivel became the second diver in program history to earn All-Atlantic 10 honors when she earned a silver medal in the 1-meter dive with a score of 254.75 points.
Scouting Fordham (Men)
The Rams had a strong regular season, finishing 6-3 overall including 5-0 at home before scoring 165 points at the Atlantic 10 Championships. Tommy Christensen competed on the 400-yard medley, 400-yard freestyle and 800-yard freestyle relay squads at the conference championships. He posted personal best times in the 100- (50.78 seconds) and 200-yard (1:52.86) butterfly as well as the 50-yard freestyle (21.76 seconds).
Christopher Craig and Colin Esterine-Reid return for a second season as Fordham’s diving duo after placing at last year’s conference championship meet.
Looking Ahead
Marist will host Rider in its second MAAC meet of the season at 6 p.m. Oct. 29 in McCann Natatorium. The women will look to extend their conference regular season dual meet win streak to 37 dating back to 2009. The Broncs’ men’s team has captured the MAAC title the last five years.