Day One Final
Day One Prelims

BALTIMORE, Md. - Fairfield University women's swimmer Michelle Yoshida (Kaneohe, Hawaii) captured the 50 yard freestyle crown and set school, conference, and pool records in the process during the opening day of action at the 2009 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships at the Mangione Aquatic Center.

Yoshida, a freshman, posted a winning time of 23.76 seconds breaking the pool record of 23.78 seconds, the MAAC record of 24.12 seconds, and the Fairfield record of 24.24 seconds. Yoshida becomes the first MAAC Champion since Jennifer Masi, who captured the 50 free in 2006. Fairfield's only other female MAAC Champion is Catherine Bassi, who won both diving events in 1993. Yoshida was also a part of two relay records this evening. She is now holds or is a part of 10 school records. 

The women's 200 freestyle relay of freshman Teresa Garrity (Middlebury, Conn.), Allie Russoniello (Middletown, N.J.), freshman Megan Reilly (Atlantic Highlands, N.J.), and Yoshida placed fifth in a record-setting time of 1:39.41. They broke the mark of 140.50 set at MAACs in 2006.The 400 medley relay of senior Meghan Carlson (Worcester, Mass.), freshman Lauren Kennedy (Belmont, Mass.) freshman Aly Criscuolo (Pittsford, N.Y.), and Yoshida also set a program record with a time of 4:01.84. They broke the mark of 4:04.8 set at MAACs in 2005.

Sophomore Katie Merz (Absecon, N.J.) also set a Fairfield record. She placed fifth in the 500 free with a mark of 5:05.49 and broke Brittany Hunter's record of 5:05.68 set at MAACs in 2006.

Kennedy set the Fairfield record in the 200 IM with a time of 2:13.61 which placed her 13th in the event. Kennedy broke the standard of 2:13.86 set by Hunter in 2003.

On the men's side, freshman Brian Friedlander (River Edge, N.J.) placed 10th in the 200 IM with a time of 1:55.76 which tied the program record set by Drew Kingman at MAACs last season. Classmate Stefan Toi (Newton, Conn.) finished in 11th place with a personal best of 1:58.68.

Freshman Greg Bellizzi (Edison, N.J.) also set a record by posting a time of 21.93 seconds in the prelims of the 50 free, breaking his own school record (22.14). He went on to finish 16th in the event with a time of 21.97 seconds.

Both of the men's relays set Fairfield records. The 200 freestyle relay of freshmen Bellizzi, Toi, Kekoa Taparra (Mililani, Hawaii), and Andrew Robinson (Manalapan, N.J.) finished with a time of 1:28.34, eclipsing the mark of 1:28.91 set in 2002. The 400 medley of junior Boris Romanovsky (Marblehead, Mass.), Taparra, Robinson, and Bellizzi shattered the program record with a time of 3:34.50. The previous mark was 3:39.17 and was set at MAACs in 2001.

The Loyola men lead after scoring 229 points earlier today, while second-place Rider registered 201 points.  Marist is in third with 124 points, followed by Iona (111), Saint Peter's (91), Niagara (67), Fairfield (60), Canisius (54) and Manhattan (36).

On the women's side, Rider has tallied 224 points, while Loyola stands in second place (205). Marist is in third with 196 points, followed by Siena College (106), Fairfield (94), Iona (88), Niagara (81), Canisius (53), Manhattan (44) and Saint Peter's.

In the 1-meter diving prelims, junior Hillary Urbancic (Concord, Mass.) posted a score of 160.30. In the prelims of the 200 IM, Carlson posted a time of 2:22.78 while junior Marina Meliones (Wayland, Mass.) had a time of 2:36.64.

In the prelims of the 50 free, Garrity just missed the cut with a time of 25.25 seconds. Reilly posted a time of 25.60 seconds and was followed by Russoniello in 25.78 seconds, Sam Ceglia (Glen Cove, N.Y.) in 23.62 seconds, Christina Brown (Shavertown, Pa.) in 27.37 seconds, Alyssa Conroy (Toms River, N.J.) in 27.43 seconds, and Wanda Szarek (Middletown, Conn.) in 27.45 seconds.

In the prelims of the men's 500 freestyle, several Stags rookies posted personal bests. Tommy Peters (Basking Ridge, N.J.) clocked a time of 4:58.80 and was followed by George Daniolos (Shelton, Conn.) in 5:01.64, Anthony Caserta (Youngstown, N.J.) in 5:25.27 and Kevin Richard (Shelton, Conn.) in 5:42.21.

In the prelims of the 200 IM, sophomore Charlie Helm (Cheshire, Conn.) notched a mark of 2:06.68. In the prelims of the 50 free, freshman Brendan Sarpu (South Windsor, Conn.) had a time of 22.90 seconds while classmate Anthony Sbona (Higganum, Conn.) finished in 22.98 seconds. They were followed by Alex Connaughton (Wayland, Mass.) in 23.71 seconds, Kenny Muti (Walpole, Mass.) in 23.97 seconds and Garrett Marqua (Fairfield, Conn.) in 24.01 seconds.

Earlier in the day, Fairfield had 13 Stags named to the MAAC All-Academic Team. On the men's side, Connaughton and Romanovsky were elected to the team for the second straight year while sophomores Jonathan O'Connor (Norwalk, Conn.) and Brett Carisio (Cheshire, Conn.) earned their first selections. Nine members of the women's team earned All-Academic honors. Senior tri-captain Kaitlyn Buckheit (Exton, Pa.) was named to the team for the third consecutive year while Carlson received her first nod. Meliones received her second straight selection. Sophomores Merz, Brown, Russonielllo, Szarek, Sasha Campbell (Old Greenwich, Conn.), and Colleen Wilson (Niantic, Conn.) were named to the All-Academic Team for the first time.

Fairfield continues action at the MAAC Championships on Friday and Saturday. For more information about the sold-out event, visit MAAC Championship Central.