POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.
- Coming off of a 2010-11season that saw Red Foxes collect their 12th MAAC
Championship, the women's swimming and diving squad took to the McCann
Natatorium Friday afternoon in their season opening meet and continued to
exhibit dominance in the pool. Marist finished first in 15 of the 16 events
with junior Kate Conard (East Setauket, N.Y.) leading the way with three first
place finishes. Freshman Kimberly Tobias (San Jose, Calif.) had a collegiate
debut to remember as she won both boards and qualified for the NCAA Zone A
Diving Championships.
Conard collected her wins in three
separate disciplines; the backstroke, freestyle and individual medley. Her day
began with the 100-yd backstroke which she won in a time of 59.76. Conard and
her teammate Allison Kreho (Shelton, Conn.) took the first two positions in the
race. In the 500-yd freestyle race, Conard finished with a time of 5:06.46.
Senior Michelle Fountain (Sayville, N.Y.) and sophomore Bonnie Orr (Fresno,
Calif.) completed the Red Fox sweep of the 500 freestyle, as they came in with times
of 5:12.65 and 5:18.48, respectively. The 200-yd individual medley was the
final event that Conard competed in and finished ahead of her Army competitors.
She finished the course in 2:12.64.
The Red Foxes had three other
multi-event winners during the meet: Tobias, sophomore Maddie Arciello
(Missoula, Mont.) and freshman Greta Leberfinger (Chatham, N.J.).
Tobias debuted with victories in
both of the diving events. In her first board, the 1-meter, she cruised to a
78.67 point win over her nearest competition. With a score of 270.97, she
qualified for the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships that will be held in March
of 2012. In the 3-meter board, she scored victory with a point total of 232.95.
Her teammate Lauren Weiner (Feeding Hills, Mass.) finished in second place with
173.17 points.
Arciello, thrived in both the
freestyle sprint races. The current record-holder of Marist's 50- and 100-yard marks,
she won the 50-yd sprint with a time of 24.63 and the 100-yd race at 54.29. In
the second event she was challenged by Fountain, who finished .45 seconds back
at 54.74.
Leberfinger, a breaststroke
specialist, took victories in the 100- and 200-yd races. In her debut event, the
100-yd breaststroke, she won in dominant fashion as she cleared her nearest
competitor by 5.30 seconds with her time of 1:06.78. In the 200-yd race, she
came in with a time of 2:25.28.
Junior Erica Vitale (Sterling,
Conn.), Fountain, Orr, Kreho also earned individual wins.
In her Marist debut Vitale won the
200-yd butterfly with a time of 2:10.48. She came up .05 seconds short of her
second victory, as Kreho held her off for the win in the 200-yd backstroke with
a 2:11.05 mark.
Orr won the 1000-yd freestyle
easily, as she finished in 10:41.35, 9.02 seconds clear of second place.
Fountain earned her victory in the
200-yd freestyle with the top time of 1:55.77.
The Red
Foxes will return to action next Thursday, Oct. 20 when they host Fordham in a
7 p.m. meet.
