Feb. 17, 2011
Siena swimming and diving sits fourth after day one of the 2011 MAAC Championships in Buffalo, one that included several historic swims by the Saints. Siena is just six and a half points out of third, and well clear of the fifth-place team in the standings.
Siena took home two MAAC championships on the first day. Most notably, junior Katie Ness didn't just win the 50 free, but set a new conference record in the prelims with a time of :23.48. Her time of :23.57 in the finals was just enough to out-touch Fairfield's Michelle Yoshida, who came in just one one-hundredth of a second behind Ness.
The Saints ended the day with another first place finish in the 400 medley relay. The team of Ness, Britney Anderer, Kaela Bjornberg, and Brittany Pavolko powered home in front with a time of 3:51.87, over 12 seconds faster than their seed time of 4:03.91. This destroyed the previous school record of 3:56.25, and gave Siena 40 of its 138.5 points on the day.
Other notable finishes included the team of Caitlyn Biagioli, Anderer, Dana Tricarico, and Ness finishing third in the 200 free relay, Bjornberg finishing fourth in the 200 IM, Molly Chamberlain finishing fifth in the 500 free, and Elizabeth Rice checking in tenth in one-meter diving.
In addition, eight Siena swimmers were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team. The list included Bjornberg, Katie Carew, Chamberlain, Kristen Lange, Ness, Pavolko, Emily Schultz, and Meghan Servello.
Action at the MAAC Championships continues tomorrow.
STANDINGS AFTER DAY ONE
1) Marist - 247
2) Rider - 171.5
3) Loyola - 145
4) Siena - 138.5
5) Iona - 103
6) Niagara - 101
7) Fairfield - 95
8) Canisius - 87
9) Saint Peter's - 36
10) Manhattan - 32
