The Iona University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams competed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships at the Spire Academy in Geneva, Ohio from Feb. 14-18.
The women’s team took sixth place with 307 points while the men’s team finished in fifth place with 397. Even though both teams did not receive a team medal, both squads earned a handful of individual medals and records.
Day one of the event was packed with team events and the Gaels showed up ready to compete. In the 800-yard Freestyle Relay, the men’s quartet of senior, Michael Faughnan, who had the meet’s fastest leg, and three freshmen, Kieren Egan, Noah Giunta and Nate Wales combined for a new school record of 6:35.46, earning them a bronze medal.
The men’s team also set a new school mark in the 200-Medley Relay with a time of 1:29.79 and a fifth-place finish. Egan led off the relay with a 22.11 50-yard backstroke leg, Matthew Loftus followed up with a career best 50-yard breaststroke split of 24.70, Brian Baldwin was next with a 22.10 in the 50-yard butterfly leg, and lastly Nicholas Patino anchored with a 20.88 split.
The women’s team set their own school record in the 800-yard Freestyle Relay with a time of 7:37.75. The quartet consisted of senior Megan Josephs, sophomore Brennyn Veit, freshman Kate Kennedy and graduate student Isabella Nicholson.
On day two of the four-day meet, Faughnan won gold in the 500-yard Freestyle with a time of 4:20.64. The men’s quartet of Faughnan, Wales, Patino and Mikel Palaj combined for a new school record and a bronze medal in the 200-Freestyle Relay with a time of 1:20.73. In the diving portion, Dylan Riccio placed sixth on the 3-Meter Springboard at 186.05.
On the women’s side, Nicholson placed sixth in the 50-yard Freestyle with a time of 23.76.
Day three of the meet proved to be the most successful for the Gaels. For the women’s team, sophomore Ashley Benkert won gold in the 100-yard Butterfly with a time of 56.18 defending her title from the 2023 MAAC Championships. Josephs claimed bronze in the 200-yard Freestyle with a time of 1:53.01.
For the men’s team, Loftus broke the school record in the 100-Breaststroke at 55.12 taking ninth place. Faughnan broke the MAAC and school record in the 200-Freestyle earning gold with a time of 1:34.79. He also won gold alongside Egan, Loftus and Giunta in the 400-yard Medley Relay posting a time of 3:14.86, another school record.
On the fourth and final day of the meet Faughnan claimed his third gold medal of the meet in the 200-yard back breaking another MAAC record with a time of 1:43.89. In the meet’s final event Egan, Wales, senior Liam Pyatt and Faughnan combined for gold in the 400-yard Freestyle Relay with a time of 2:58.20, a new school record.
For the women’s team, the largest scoring event came in the 1650-Freestyle, when freshman Anabel Huffstutler took bronze at 17:28.35 and graduate student Tristan Urso came in fifth with a time of 17:34.97. Nicholson capped off her career winning bronze at 51.31 in the 100-yard Freestyle.
Faughnan’s standout performance earned him his second consecutive MAAC Outstanding Swimmer Award.
Select swimmers will compete in the 2024 CSCAA National Invitational Championships from March 14-16 in Ocala, Florida.
