The Iona College Women’s Swimming and Diving team was victorious in their last two home meets against Fairfield and Manhattan.

The woman’s medley relay consisting of senior Theresa Harvey, juniors Kerri-Anne Dodenhoff and Maria Skeivys and freshman Leigh Musselman placed in both meets.

In the 1,000 freestyle, senior Kara Nowakowski, freshman Emma Martinus and freshman Daniela Beasley finished with high scoring points.

Harvey dominated in the sprint freestyle events, winning the 50 freestyle, the 100 freestyle and the 200 freestyle between the two meets. Other top swims in those events came from freshman Melissa Dorsch and Dodenhoff in the 50 free, and senior Victoria Ponzo, junior Brigitte Doughty, and sophomore Samantha Jaile in the 200 free. Nowakowski and Doughty placed in the 500 freestyle, bringing in high points for the Gaels.

In the stroke events, senior Kelsie Johnson and sophomore Olivia Kroll placed first and second in the Manhattan meet. In the 200 backstroke, Musselman, Kroll, Martinus and freshman Cassidy O’Connell finished with high points. For breaststroke, Dodenhoff and freshman Mary Ellen Mangione finished first and second in the 100 breaststroke. Ponzo placed in both meets in the 200 fly and 100 fly, and Beasley placed in the 200 fly.

“We’ve been very satisfied so far, we have started to specialize in specific events and have seen significant improvement,” Head Coach Nick Cavataro said.

The women divers brought in points for the Gaels in the Manhattan meet. In the 100 meter diving event, senior Briana Gongloff won first, freshman Alicia Raffle placed second and junior Melanie Dilascio finished third.

“I think that the team really pulled together the last two meets and showed a lot of team spirit,” senior diver Jamie Colburn said. “There was a lot of strength in the individual events as well. Right now everyone is dedicated to focusing on MAACs. Personally, I’m doing a lot of mental preparation by constantly envisioning how my dives will go. We all want a strong end to the season.”

“Now we are resting and doing some fine tuning,” Cavataro added. “The more conditioning portion of the year is behind us, and we are excited to see what’s next at the championship.”

The Lady Gaels will compete in the MAAC Championships Feb. 14 in Buffalo, NY.