FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Manhattan men's and women's swimming and diving teams competed in their first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) meet of the year on Saturday at Fairfield. The two sides raced to a split, as the men's squad defeated the Stags, improving to 2-0 on the young season. The women's team fell in its meet, moving to 1-1 on the fall. The event was held at the RecPlex Pool, which is a 25-meter facility. The times for the races reflect meter times, and not the standard yard measure.
The men came away with an impressive 156.5-141.5 result, narrowly taking down Fairfield to remain unbeaten on the year. For the second consecutive meet, freshman Neil Perry was named a Men's Performer of the Meet. Junior Lance Neuendorf also earned the honor.
On the women's side, freshman Alexandra Hutzler and junior Paige Raccioppi were named Women's Performers of the Meet. For Hutzler, the meet marked the second straight time she was recognized by the coaching staff as a performer of the meet.
Men
Perry took first in the 50 free with a time of 24.32. The freshman also raced to a first place finish in the 100 free, with a 54.20, defeating his closest opponent by 1.13 seconds. Perry served as a duel threat, as he also earned a top time in the 100 fly, swimming to a 58.63. He was the only person to clock in under 1:00 in the event. Another highlight in Perry's meet came while anchoring the 200 medley relay team of Neuendorf, senior Mike Mackay and junior Dallan Treanor to a final leg time of 24.12, and ensuring a victory by almost 4 seconds.
Neuendorf was just as impressive, recording first place finishes in both the 100 and 200 backstroke events. The junior swam to a 1:02.22 in the 100, winning by just under 1 second. In the 200, Neuendorf took first by 2.88 second, clocking in at 2:17.76. He also swam the first leg of the 200 medley relay in a time of 28.89, to give the Jaspers a lead of just under 1 second, which they would only improve upon.
Mackay also turned in strong performances in the breaststroke, placing first in the 100. The senior swam to a time of 1:08.02, defeating the field by over 4.5 seconds. He swam a second leg time of 30.16 on a 200 medley relay team that earned first place.
Women
The women fell by a 218 to 76 final, but many individual swimmers enjoyed success at the meet. Hutzler took first place and broke a school record in the 200 breast, finishing with a converted time of 2:30.94, shattering the old record by 6.06 seconds. In the 100 breast, the freshman clocked in at 1:18.08, taking the final by .99 seconds.
Raccioppi took first in the 200 fly event, finishing with a time of 2:44.39. She defeated her closest competitor by 1.25 seconds.
Sophomores Madison Brown and Patricia Colton also put forth solid performances in the pool for Manhattan.
The Jaspers return to action on Saturday, Nov. 1, when the men take on NJIT and St. Francis Brooklyn. The women will compete against St. Francis Brooklyn only.