The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams closed out the home portion of their schedule on Jan. 31 against the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

 

The men’s side came out strong taking six events, but lost 137-100. On the women’s side, their winning streak continued as they won 139-82.

 

The men’s side had many notable performances including the team’s first win in the 1000-yard freestyle. Freshman Justin Grigull led the pace as he touched the wall in 9:52.19. Freshman Nick Kotonias took second for Iona as he finished the event in 10:10.87.

 

In the 50-yard freestyle, senior Seth Tasman topped the field in 22.24, while freshman Ralph Porrazzo was close behind in third with a time of 22.35.

 

Sophomore Chris Yacobacci continued Iona’s string of victories, as he took first in the 200-yard IM in 1:58.17.

 

Porrazzo added another win for the Gaels winning the 100-yard backstroke in 53.61.

 

Sophomore Joseph De Leone was victorious in the 500-yard freestyle as he finished in 4:52.23.

 

Yacobacci continued to be one of the team’s top swimmers as he picked up a second win in the 100-yard backstroke for Iona. Yacobacci’s time of 59.37 was also the only finishing time to go under one minute.

 

The women’s team cruised to an easy victory as they had several swimmers finish first.

 

In the opening event of the 200-yard medley, the quartet of freshman Maria Skeivys, junior Jamie Manser, senior Sam Cody and sophomore Theresa Harvey were victorious as they finished in 1:53.75.

 

Freshman Brigitte Doughty was first for the Gaels in the 1000-yard freestyle in 10:52.72. Teammate and sophomore Kara Nowakowski was runner-up in 10:59.76.

 

In the 200-yard freestyle Harvey continued to win events as she led the way in 1:59.60, while Cody was second in 2:02.11.

 

For the 50-yard freestyle, the Gaels took over the top two spots as junior Mackenzie Mone was first in 25.78 and Skeivys was second in 26.64.

 

The Gaels swept the 200-yard IM with senior Brittany Freeman taking first in 2:23.01, Manser taking second in 2:23.58 and senior Christine Larkin taking third in 2:27.53.

 

Following their first sweep, the Gaels took another sweep, this time in the 100-yard butterfly with Harvey leading the way in 1:00.43. Cody was second in 1:03.74, while Nowakowski was third in 1:06.74.

 

Mone picked up another victory for Iona in the 100-yard freestyle and won the race in 54.96, while freshman Kerri-Anne Dodenhoff was second in 57.01.

 

Ionacompleted one more sweep and it was in the 100-yard breaststroke. Skeivys won in 1:03.74, while teammate Freeman was second in 106.70. Sophomore Kelsie Johnson rounded out the sweep with a a time of 1:07.53.

 

The Gaels will head to Buffalo for the MAAC Championships that start on Feb. 17.