Feb. 5, 2011
Complete Results
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After a pre-meet ceremony honored seven seniors who rewrote the Siena swimming and diving record book, the Saints sent out the class of 2011 with a 165-133 win over Fairfield Saturday afternoon at the Siena Swim Center. The Siena seniors made their presence felt Saturday, as fourth-year student-athletes won six of sixteen events. Tri-captains Caitlyn Biagioli, Molly Chamberlain, and Brittany Pavolko all won two events, with Chamberlain and Biagioli comprising half of the meet-ending 400 free relay team that triumphed by several seconds. Additionally, fellow senior Nicole Hagi came home first in the 1000 free.
Several underclassmen also made big impacts Saturday. Elizabeth Rice once again swept the one and three-meter diving events, Katie Ness led off the 400 free relay, and Kaela Bjornberg took down the 200 I.M. in nail-biting fashion, out-touching two Fairfield swimmers in a fantastic finish.
The meet may have ended in spectacular fashion for Siena (8-4-1), but the meet had an ominous beginning. The 400 medley relay team of Ness, Britney Anderer, Pavolko, and Chamberlain seemed to have smashed the pool record by over four seconds with a time of 4:01.07. However, the officials ruled Chamberlain had left the starting position early, resulting in a disqualification and the time being nullified. When the dust settled, it was actually Fairfield who took down the pool record, being placed first with a time of 4:03.93.
The Stags also set another pool record, as junior Michelle Yoshida won the 100 back in :58.38, lowering the Siena Swim Center standard by four-tenths of a second in the process. Her win gave the Stags a 39-35 lead after four events, but Pavolko would recapture momentum two events later in the 200 fly. Her winning time of 2:09.97 was the second-fastest time in pool history.
The Saints will now focus on the MAAC Championships, which will begin on February 17th at Erie Community College in Buffalo, N.Y.
