The Iona College men’s and women’s swimming and diving team competed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships in Buffalo, N.Y. from Feb. 13-15.

The men’s team finished seventh out of nine teams, and the women finished sixth out of nine. Despite low team rankings, several swimmers had record swims.

On day one of the meet, the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay finished in fourth place. Consisting of seniors Tyler Elfert, Ryan Bacci and Justin Grigull and sophomore Tommy Keefe, the relay finished with a time of 1:23.95.

Senior Brigitte Doughty broke a school record in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing in fifth with a time of 5:03.70.

Sophomore Mary Allen Mangione competed in the 200-yard IM, finishing in third place with a time of 2:07.71.

Earlier in the day, Mangione set a school record in the prelims with a time of 2:06.92.

Mangione also competed the following day in the 400-yard IM, finishing in first place and setting another school record, touching the wall at 4:30.79. Mangione continued her medal streak on the third day of competition in the 200-yard breaststroke. The sophomore swam a 2:21.80 in the event, earning herself a silver medal.

The Gaels came in strong on the second day, setting more school records. The men’s 200-yard medley relay of Freshmen Keegan Boisson-Yates and Liam Oberlander, Bacci, and Keefe, set a new school record with a time of 1:34.17, finishing in eighth. Seniors Maria Skeivys, Kerri-Anne Dodenhoff, Sophia Hyokyvaara and freshman Katie Nevin finished in fourth in the 200-yard medley relay, clocking in at 1:46.85.

Freshman Natalie Bowman competed in the 200-yard freestyle and finished with a 1:53.83, adding a MAAC bronze medal to her collection. Doughty placed fifth in the event, swimming the eight lengths in 1:55.27. In the 100-yard backstroke, Boisson-Yates came in second place. His time of 50.38 broke the school record he had set in December.

Dodenhoff competed in the 100 breaststroke, attempting to defend her first place title from the previous year. Despite battling an illness for the weeks leading up to MAACs, Dodenhoff secured a fifth place spot following the prelims, and climbed to second place in the finals after taking a full second off her prelims time. The senior secured the silver medal with a time of 1:06.23.

On the third day, Grigull competed in the 100-yard freestyle, taking second with a 45.90. Grigull was also a part of the record-setting men’s 400-yard relay with Elfert, Boisson-Yates and Bacci. Elfert led off with a 46.52 split, and Boisson-Yates continued the chase on Rider with a 46.72. Bacci’s split of 45.71 closed the gap on Rider, and Grigull completed the chase with a 44.70. With an exhilarating finish, Iona took gold with a 3:03.64, and Rider’s 3:03.85 earned them second place after three years in the top spot.

The relay broke the oldest relay record for the school, and was the first gold medal Iona earned in a relay at MAACs. The relay qualified for the College Swimming Coaches Association of America National Meet, to be held just outside Dallas from March 23 – 25.