NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Behind the strength of 17 individual event wins from 13 different swimmers, the Iona College men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams each made it two wins in as many days by defeating Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rival Manhattan College. The road victory comes on the heels of the Maroon & Gold’s home win against Monmouth on Friday, Nov. 13.
The Iona women took 11 of the 12 swimming events, in addition to securing both the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relay. The dominance was evident in the final score, a 203-59 advantage for the Maroon & Gold.
The victory raises the women’s season record to 5-3.
The Iona men split with Manhattan earning six wins in the individual events apiece; however the Gaels picked up a combined 21 second and third place finishes, along with 1-2-3 effort in the meet’s final event, the 400-yard Freestyle Relay. The consistency throughout the team, and clutch final event performance on Saturday, has propelled the men’s program to a 5-1 mark, their best start in a decade.
Leading the way Saturday in the Bronx for the Gaels was Elizabeth Kaczmarek, who touched first in the 200-Breaststroke and Individual Medley. Kaitlyn Mahon picked up a pair of wins in the 500 and 1000-Freestyles, and winning two events along side her fellow teammates was Leigh Musselman; she touched first in the 200-Freestyle and 200-Backstroke.
Matthew Rothman was the men’s double winner taking the 50 and 100-Freestyle.
Other individual event winners for the day included Alex Aliapoulios, 100-Free; Sam Braziel, 100-Breast; Maria DiBella, 100-Back; Melissa Dorsch, 50-Free; Christian Foti, 200-Freestyle; Kathryn Nevin, 100-Breaststroke; Collin Purrman, 1000-Freestyle and Christopher Vadala in the 200-Breaststroke.
The team returns to training as they prepare for the semester’s final contest on December 4, at Loyola University, where they will square off against another pair of conference rivals, Marist College and St. Peter’s University along with the host Loyola University. The meet known as the H2Oounds Invitational has a modified NCAA Championship 3-day format meet, held in one and one-half days.