The Iona College men’s and women’s swimming and diving team competed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships in Buffalo, N.Y. from Feb. 9-12.  

The women’s team finished in second place with 554 points, just 28.5 points behind Niagara University. The men’s team finished in fourth place with 420 points. Both teams combined secured fourteen new school records.  

In the 200-yard Medley Relay, the women’s quartet of Grace Curry, Julia Moser, Ashley Benkert and senior captain Katherine Lee earned a silver medal and a new school record with the time of 1:43.08. For the men’s team, Spencer Moran, Jackson Madonia, Jalen Ramjohn and Aidan Holbrook earned a time of 1:31.30 taking sixth place and a new school record.  

Closing out day one in the 800-Free Relay, the women’s relay of Meghan Pattison, Luiza Da Silveira, Isabella Nicholson and Lee had a season’s best time of 7:38.69. Lee led off the relay with a time of 1:52.64 setting a new school record. The men’s relay started out strong as Michael Faughnan lowered his own school record with a time of 1:38.08. Conor Mullin, Daniel Hadary and Holbrook followed Faughnan combining for a time of 6:37.56, a new school record.  

Faughnan continued his strong starts taking second in the 500-Free with a time of 4:26.19. Also taking silver for the men’s team in the 200-Free relay was Mullin, Hadary, Moran and Holbrook, setting a new school record. The most exciting race of the day was the women’s 200-Free relay with Nicholson, Moser, Lee and Megan Josephs coming in second with a time of 1:35.09, just 1.01 behind Niagara.  

The biggest win for the Gaels was the women’s 400-Medley Relay during day three. Da Silveira, Moser, Benkert and Nicholson combined for a time of 3:45.91 taking first place and shattering the MAAC record set by Rider in 2019. All four girls are returning next year and are expected to top their newly set record next year.  

Mullin secured the first individual gold medal for the Gaels in the 100-Fly with a new school record of 48.18. Faughnan set another school record and claimed his first gold medal with a time of 1:37.56 in the 200-Free. Matthew Loftus (100-Breaststroke) and Ramjohn (100-Fly) were top scorers in their events.  

For the women’s team, Moser took home gold in the 100-Breaststroke and Nicholson claimed silver in the 200-Free. Nicholson’s time of 1:52.30 took her school record back that Lee had previously broken during day one.  

On the fourth and final day, junior Tristan Urso set a new school record in the “mile.” Moser secured her second gold medal while breaking her own school record with a time of 2:19.26 in the 200-Breaststroke. Finishing off the women’s individual events was Benkert earning bronze in the 200-Fly at 2:06.38.  

The fight for second place came down to the final relay for the women’s team. The Gaels needed to beat Fairfield University to remain in second place. The 400-yard freestyle quartet consisted of Nicholson, Josephs, Moser and Lee who finished with a season’s best at 3:28.65, taking silver with Fairfield finishing in fourth.  

Mullin added to his medals finishing in second by just .07 in the 200-Fly. His time of 1:47.94 earned him the new school record completing his college career on a high note. The men’s 400-Freestyle Relay of Holbrook, Mullin, Moran and Hadary took fifth, swimming together for one final time.  

Select swimmers will compete at the 2022 CSCAA National Invitational Championship in Elkhart, Ind. on March 10-12