RIVERDALE, N.Y.- The Manhattan College men's and women's swimming teams were busy in the water this past weekend (Nov. 12-14), participating in dual meets against Hunter College, Fairfield University and St. Francis College.
"Both our teams swam their hearts out and left nothing in the locker room," Coach said. "They came out hungry and built on each event throughout the weekend, We had tremendous efforts from several swimmers including Bridget Latino, MaryLynn McMahon, Vanessa L'Heureux, Melanie Tam, TJ McCarthy and PJ Sweeney,"Walter Olsewski
On Friday evening, the women's team (4-9) traveled south to take on Hunter College in an 11-event contest and proved victorious by a team score of 50-42. Winning seven different events, Manhattan recorded impressive scores in both short and long distance competition.
In the sprints, sophomore Nadine Maher cruised to a win in the 50-yard (27.13) and 100-yard freestyle events (59.83). Continuing her dominance in the 200-freestyle, junior Bridget Latino placed first with a time of 2:07.14. Proving to be a tremendous new addition for the third-straight week, freshman Vanessa L'Heureux won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:23.16.
Adding to the total score with a strong performance in the 1000-yard free, freshman MaryLynn McMahon swam a 12:23.91 to gain top honors. In team relays, the combination of senior Rebecca Schwartz, Latino, L'Heureux and classmate Melanie Tam finished first in the 200-yard medley (2:02.57).
Facing off in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference battle on Saturday afternoon, the men's and women's teams went head-to-head with Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn., falling in a meter pool by scores of 135-88 and 119-74, respectively.
Competing against a difficult adversary, the men's squad (6-6) had several strong efforts but could not make up enough ground to defeat the Stags. Pacing the Jaspers was freshman TJ McCarthy, who placed first in both the 100 (54.55) and 200-meter (2:01.24) freestyle events.
Chipping in with two victories of his own was newcomer PJ Sweeney, who ended the day at the top of both the 400 (4:26.61) and 1500-meter (17:32.30) freestyle events. Sophomore Robert Varieur and freshman Chris Fusco performed admirably with second place results in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke.
On the women's side, it was consecutive winning days for Latino and McMahon and a new top placer in senior captain Debbie Atwell. Swimming in the 100-meter butterfly, Latino logged a 1:09.36 to end first in the race. Making it two upperclassman in the win column, Atwell swam a stellar 1:27.61 in the 100-meter breaststroke to garner No.1 accolades.
Winning for the second-straight day, McMahon recorded a 5:09.43 in the 400-meter freestyle to beat the second place swimmer by more than 40 seconds. Shipping out of the "Granite State" in a big way, the Lady Jaspers won the 800-meter freestyle relay with a time of 9:49.81.
In Sunday's finale, the Green and White switched boroughs as they took on St. Francis in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. Changing their fortune from the previous meet, Manhattan came out strong and put up excellent numbers on the day. Splitting with the Terriers, the men's program won 122-83 while the women narrowly fell 115-98.
For the men's program, nine victories highlighted a great performance with McCarthy, Sweeney, Varieur and freshman Dennis Daly setting the tone. McCarthy led the way in the 50-yard freestyle (22.37) and 100-yard butterfly (53.45), while Varieur paced all swimmers in the 100 (49.16) and 200-yard (1:51.94) freestyle events. Excelling in the breaststroke, Daly took first with a 1:03.35 in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Capping off two tremendous appearances, Sweeney won both distance events he competed in, with a time of 5:07.84 in the 500-yard and 10:24.57 in the 1000-yard freestyle events. The latter time broke a previous school record set by the freshman earlier this season
Aside from individual wins, the Jaspers also proved victorious in the 200-yard medley and freestyle relays. Sophomores Cullen Balcanoff, Chris Parker, Mike Scire and Mickey Ruddy were crucial members of both teams.
For the women's team, it was a day of success in multiple events. Latino had a hat trick, recording victories in the 100-yard butterfly (1:02.67) and the 200 (2:06.19) and 500-yard freestyle (5:38.33) events. Along with contributions from the veteran core, newcomers L'Heureux and McMahon placed first in the 200-yard medley (2:21.24), and 1000-yard freestyle (12:12.39), respectively. Tam contributed with two second place finishes in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events. Ending on a high note, the Lady Jaspers logged a 1:50.73 to prevail in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Manhattan College will return to the pool on Friday, Nov. 19, with a 6 p.m. meet against Baruch College.
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