Feb. 19, 2011
Siena finished in fourth place at the 2011 MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships in Buffalo, but the past three days featured the program re-writing the record book and a senior class going out with a splash in their final conference championship events.
Saturday featured two more school records being shattered, bringing the tally of new standards in the past three days to eight. Kaela Bjornberg was the first to a new record today, finishing second in the 200 breast with a time of 2:21.01, over three seconds faster than the previous mark (which she also held). Meanwhile, senior Brittany Pavolko also notched a second-place finish, stopping the timer in 2:06.51 in the 200 fly to better her own standard by over three seconds as well.
Though the day featured no wins by the Saints, there were several noteworthy finishes. Siena had three finishers in the top 10 in the 100 free, with Katie Ness, Pavolko, and Molly Chamberlain finishing fifth, sixth, and 10th, respectively. The group of Chamberlain, Pavolko, Caitlyn Biagioli, and Ness also finished third in the 400 free relay, while Nicole Hagi checked in seventh in the grueling 1650 free.
Siena finished with 462 points over three days. Marist took home the conference crown with a total of 843, while Rider finished second with 566 and Loyola third with 499.5. Siena's next stop is the ECAC Championships, which will be held next week in Pittsburgh, Pa.
