The Iona Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving teams competed at Boston College in the New England Catholic Invite last weekend. The men beat Le Moyne, Providence, Holy Cross and Regis and fell to Boston College and Niagara after the two day competition. On the women’s side, the Lady Gaels went 3-4, with wins over Le Moyne, Regis and Holy Cross, and fell short to Siena, Assumption, Boston College and Niagara.

Top performers from the men’s squad were senior Chris Yacobacci, juniors Justin Grigull, Chris Giovine, Tyler Elfert and Nick Kotonias, and freshmen Scott Martin, Vincent DiNapoli and Brandon Hadhazy.

Yacobacci finished first in both the 100 yard and 200 yard breaststroke, and fourth in the 200 IM. Grigull took first in the 100 yard and 500 yard freestyle, and second in the 200 yard freestyle. Giovine finished seventh in the 100 yard breaststroke and second in the 200 yard breaststroke. Martin took third in the 1,000 yard freestyle and fourth in the 500 yard freestyle, while Kotonias placed seventh in the 500 yard freestyle and fourth in the 400 yard IM. DiNapli and Hadhazy took ninth and tenth in the 200 yard IM.

For the women, senior Victoria Ponzo, juniors Maria Skeivys, Kerri-Anne Dodenhoff and Bridget Doughty, and freshmen Mary Ellen Mangione, Melissa Dorsch, Leigh Mussleman and Cassidy O’Connell were top scorers.

Ponzo placed eighth in the 1,000 yard freestyle and sixth in the 100 yard butterfly. Skeivys took fourth in the 100 yard backstroke while classmate Dodenhoff finished first in the 100 yard breaststroke. In the 200 yard IM, Mussleman took fourth and Mangione took sixth. O’Connell finished fourth in the 400 IM, and teammates Dorsch and Dodenhoff tied for seventh in the 50 yard freestyle.

Yacobacci is proud of his team’s performance and believes the invite was a great kick off for the season.

“I think that our past meet at Boston College was a good start to our season,” Yacobacci said. “We had many good races from both our upperclassmen and underclassmen, with a few event wins. We have a great group of swimmers that I feel will continue to get better throughout our upcoming season.”

“As for Saturday, I’m extremely confident in our team. We have a serious group of swimmers with positive attitudes. We’re lucky in that our whole team works very well together and I think it’ll show in all our races from individual events to our relays,” said Yacobacci

The Gaels will compete against Wagner, St. Francis and Sacred Heart at their home pool this Saturday in the Iona Invite.