Feb. 10, 2007
BALTIMORE, Md. - The Fairfield University swimming and diving teams wrapped up competition at the 2007 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships on Saturday. The women's team placed fifth overall while the men's team placed seventh.
Sophomore Drew Kingman (Wilton, Conn.) set his tenth school record of the year with a third-place finish in the 200 breaststroke. Kingman recorded an ECAC-qualifying and record-setting time of 2:09.62. He eclipsed the standard of 2:14.50 set by Dave McGovern in 2001. During the MAAC Championships, Kingman had a trip of third-place finishes, set three individual records and helped the Stags to a relay record.
Senior Brittany Hunter (Mt. Kisco, N.Y.) finished third in the 1650 free with an ECAC qualifying time of 17:39.35. It was Hunter's third individual third-place finish of the championhips. Marist took the top two spots as Jenell Walsh-Thomas posted a winning time of 17:28.40 while Emily Hammang placed second in 17:36.06.
Junior Liz Lawlor (North Wales, Pa.) placed fifth in the women's 200 breaststroke with an ECAC qualifying time of 2:31.50 while senior Jennifer Masi (North Haven, Conn.) placed eighth in the women's 100 free with a time of 55.07 seconds which qualifies her for ECACs.
In the men's 1-meter dive, freshman Taylor Stecko (South Windsor, Conn.) placed sixth overall with a score of 221.95 while senior Russ Laub (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) placed 11th overall with a mark of 155.60. Sophomore Christian Lopez (Englewood, N.J.) was 13th with a score of 80.25.
In the women's 3-meter dive, junior Katharine Yee (Bethesda, Md.) placed sixth overall with 323.95 points. Junior Jennifer Silvia (Osterville, Mass.) placed 10th with a mark of 257.80. Freshman Hillary Urbancic took 12th with a score of 222.40 while junior Liz Freskakis (River Vale, N.J.) tallied 179.05 to finish 15th.
In the men's 200 back, junior Brian Lloyd (New Milford, N.J.) was the runner-up in the consolation final and placed 10th overall with a time of 2:03.68 while sophomore Matt Rimmer (Branford, Conn.) took 12th place with a time of 2:06.64.
In the women's 200 back, junior Sarah Dent (Albertson, N.Y.) was the runner-up in the consolation final and placed 10th overall with a time of 2:15.69. Junior Courtney Nicholas (Farmingville, N.Y.) placed 14th with a time of 2:20.97 while sophomore Carolyn Sheppard (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) took 16th with a time of 2:21.90.
Junior Rachel Waldstein (Needham, Mass.) placed 10th in the women's 200 fly with a personal best of 2:16.11.
In the men's 1650 freestyle, junior Sean McGonigle (Philadelphia, Pa.) placed 13th with a time of 17:22.79 while junior Rob Devine (Norwalk, Conn.) placed 17th with a time of 17:45.16. The 400 freestyle of Hunter, sophomore Kaitlyn Buckheit (Exton, Pa.), Dent and Masi placed fifth with a time of 3:43.41.
Marist College took home both the men's and women's titles while Rider was the runner-up on both sides.
The season is not quite over for Fairfield as several Stags will attend the 2007 ECAC Championships February 16-18 at Harvard University.
