Dec. 11, 2002

The Marist men's swimming and diving team is off to an 8-0 start on their season, and sophomore Matthew Castillo (Jamaica, NY) has helped lead the way.

Castillo, a graduate of Archbishop Molloy High School, led the Red Foxes to a sweep of the Loyola Invitational against Colgate and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foes Loyola and Niagara on Dec. 6 and 7. Castillo won four solo events and helped the 200 yard freestyle relay team nab another first place finish.

This sophomore speedster recorded a time of 4:11.25 in his 400-yard individual medley (IM) victory in the first day of competition and along with teammates Raymond Ferranti, Jeffrey Paul and Ricky Kapusta, recorded a time of 1:25.63 in the relay win.

In the final day of competition, Castillo didn't let up as he recorded times of 1:46.01 in the 200-yard freestyle, 1:54.83 in the 200-yard butterfly and 1:55.34 in the 200-yard IM, all first place finishes.

This outstanding individual effort paced the team to a 185-151 victory over Colgate and victories against Loyola and Niagara, 265-69 and 255-79 respectively. This brings the men's MAAC unbeaten streak to 45, and the Red Foxes are now 8-0 overall with a 6-0 MAAC record. The 6-0 start is good enough to clinch Marist's eighth straight regular season MAAC title.

Success is nothing new to Castillo, though, as he made a big splash in his freshman season as well. He won the MAAC championship in the 200 IM with a time of 1:51.41, a school record. He also won the MAAC title in the 400 IM (4:03.37) and performed well at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championships finishing second in both the 200 IM (1:52.91) and 400 IM (4:03.72). He's also a member of school relay records in the 800 freestyle (6:49.34), 200 medley (1:33.42) and 400 medley (3:23.14).

The Marist Red Foxes' men's swimming and diving team will return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 21 against Fordham at 7:00 p.m. in Bronx, NY.