Men’s and Women’s Swimming improved on last year’s performance in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships, which spanned from Wednesday to Saturday this past week at Erie Community College in Buffalo, NY, finishing 6th and 7th respectively.
“A great weekend for the Monmouth swimming program as we continue to make positive progress,” said Head Coach Matt Nunnally. “Each year the expectation is to raise the bar and this season is proof that we are headed in the right direction.”
The men’s team finished with a total of 207 points, a 104-point improvement from last year’s MAAC Championships, while the women’s team improved by 106 points to 281.
Freshman standout Callan Smith continued his strong first season, winning the program’s first-ever gold medal in the 500-yard freestyle and placing second in both the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke. Smith was named MAAC Rookie of the Meet for his performances.
Freshman Camryn McHugh also brought home a gold medal for the Hawks in the women’s 200-yard backstroke.
On Wednesday, a fourth-place finish for the men in the 200-yard medley relay broke a school record. Junior Austin D’Angelo, sophomore Ethan Lucas, and freshmen Kevin Del Giorno and Ricky Thomas finished in 1:31.59.
The women’s 200-yard medley relay team also broke a school record with a 1:45.90 finish. Juniors Bradie Keelen and Jaclyn Greening and freshmen Muriel Maloney and McHugh’s efforts saw them land in fifth place.
The men’s team broke another school record, this time in the 800-meter medley relay. A squad composed of freshmen Valance Washington and Smith and sophomores Ryan Hohman and Trevor Askew managed a sixth place finish with a time of 6:49.42.
Smith and sophomore Louise Barker set new school records in their 200-meter openings of the 800-meter relay with times of 1:39.67 and 1:53.20, respectively.
On Thursday, Washington was victorious in the B Final of the 50-yard freestyle and his winning time of 20.94 broke his own school record.
Keelen finished third in the women’s 50-yard freestyle as she also broke her own personal record with a time of 23.92.
A sixth-place finish for the team of Washington, Del Giorno, Lucas, and freshman Dylan Barkhuizen in the 200-yard freestyle relay broke a program record at 1:23.40.
Friday saw even more records broken as Smith and McHugh both surpassed their previous best times in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, respectively.
Both the men’s and women’s 400-yard medley relay teams broke their respective school records with times of 3:21.08 and 3:56.39.
Sophomore Ryan Reutti won the B-Final of the 100-yard backstroke with a personal best time of 51.58.
The biggest win for the Hawks on Saturday was McHugh’s gold medal, but Smith also added his second silver medal of the meet on its final day.
Additionally, both the men’s and women’s relay teams broke school records in the 400-yard freestyle.
Men’s Swimming finished their season with a record of 6-5, as well as coming in second out of eleven teams at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Association (ECAC) Championships in Dec. 2018.
Women’s Swimming went 5-8 on the year and came in seventh out of seventeen at the ECAC Championships.
“A move forward in the overall standings and a big jump in total points by both the men and the women is a result of many great individual and relay performances,” said Nunnally. “It was exciting to see our first individual event champions and relay teams on the podium.”
PHOTO COURTESY of Dean Bogart
