Jan. 31, 2009
Complete Results
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Junior Mitchell Katz (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) and sophomore Brian Bolstad (Highland, N.Y.) set school records in the 1-meter diving and 3-meter diving events respectively, as the men's swimming and diving team defeated Seton Hall, 153-147 on the road Saturday afternoon. With the win, Marist improved to 6-5 in dual meets this season, and has completed the dual meet year with a record of .500 or better for the 18th consecutive season.
The meet came down to the final event. The 400-yd. freestyle relay team of senior Spencer Hartmann (Windsor, Conn.) and sophomores Steven Vendetta (South Windsor, Conn.), Keith Miller (Missoula, Mont.) and Joshua Sklanka (Watertown, Conn.) won the race with a time of 3:09.66 and earn the Red Foxes nine points and the victory.
Katz broke the longest standing men's swimming and diving record by scoring 314.03 in off the 1-meter board. The previous record was set in 1997 and was held by Chris Blackwell. With his score on Saturday, Katz qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships. He is the second Red Fox to qualify this season along with Bolstad. Katz came in second in 3-meter diving with a score of 290.78.
Bolstad broke his own school record in 3-meter diving. His old record of 335.33, which was set in a dual meet victory over Fairfield this season, was shattered on Saturday, when he scored a total of 371.25 points at Seton Hall. Additionally, he finished second off the 1-meter board with a score of 296.03.
Sophomore Connor Cyrus (Hanover, N.H.) qualified for the ECAC Championships with a score of 263.78 in 3-meter diving. He is the third diver from the Marist men's team to qualify for the ECAC meet, along with Bolstad and Katz.
In other swimming events, freshman Nick Chevalier. Shea also took second in the 500-yd. freestyle with a time of 4:42.35.
Hartmann won the 200-yd. freestyle with a time of 1:43.70. He also took third place in the 500-yd. freestyle with a time of 4:45.35 and the 200-yd. IM with a time of 1:57.52.
Freshman Kevin Shoemaker (Saucon Valley, Pa.) won the men's 200-yd. IM with a career best time of 1:54.29.
Juniors Kevin Quinn (Nesponsit, N.Y.) and Luke Johnson (Pensacola, Fla.) finished first and second respectively in the 200-yd. backstroke with times of 1:59.20 and 2:00.45.
With the win, the Red Foxes avenged a 150-148 defeat to Seton Hall from just a season ago.
The Red Foxes will now shift their focus to the 2008 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships, which will be held at the Loyola Fitness and Aquatic Center from Feb. 12 - Feb. 14. A three-day meet, the men will eye their fifth consecutive conference crown.
