POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.
- The Marist women's swimming and diving team put on a dominate performance on
Saturday afternoon at the McCann Natatorium versus the Boston College Eagles of
the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Red Foxes took first place finishes in all
16 events, including two each by senior Michelle Fountain (Sayville, N.Y.),
juniors Kate Conard (East Setauket, N.Y.) and Erica Vitale (Sterling, Conn.),
sophomore Maddie Arciello (Missoula, Mont.) and freshmen Greta Leberfinger
(Chatham, N.J.) and Kimberly Tobias (San Jose, Calif.). The final score of the
meet was Marist 173, Boston College 122.
Following a 2.03 second win in the 200-yd medley relay by
Marist's "A" squad of Vitale, Leberfinger, Emily Miles (Long Valley, N.J.) and
Arciello, the individual action for the Red Fox women kicked off.
Sophomore Bonnie Orr (Fresno, Calif.) was the first
winner as she finished the 1000-yd freestyle with a time of 10:42.73, more than
8.5 seconds clear of second place.
Fountain was the next victor as she won the first of her
two events, the 200-yd freestyle with a scorching time of 1:55.14, a mark that beat
her nearest competitor by 5.33 seconds. She attained her second win of the
afternoon in the 500-yd freestyle. Fountain won the distance event with a time
of 5:09.68.
Conard was the third individual to earn a victory as she
held off teammate Allison Kreho (Shelton, Conn.) in the 100-yd backstroke with a time of
1:00.18. The junior's second win was in the 200-yd backstroke event which she
swam in a time of 2:05.10, nearly 7.5 seconds ahead of second place.
Leberfinger was the fourth Red Fox to break through the
win column when she won the 100-yd breaststroke at 1:06.70, 2.36 ahead of
second place. She increased her margin of victory to 6.73 seconds with her
2:23.30 win in the 200-yd breaststroke race.
Vitale earned her two first place finishes in the Event
11, the 200-yd butterfly and Event 29 the 200-yd IM. In the butterfly, Vitale
and Miles went 1-2 with the junior earning the win at 2:10.02. In the 200-yd
IM, which was raced as an exhibition, she registered the best time at 2:12.98
Arciello continued her success as the Red Foxes'
preeminent freestyle sprinter, when she swept the 50- and 100-yd freestyle
races. In the 50- she finished in first with a time of 24.85, and the 100- her
final mark was 53.97. Arciello's 100-yd time was over two seconds ahead of her
nearest finisher.
Miles was the final Red Fox to earn a victory in swimming
action as she won the 100-yd butterfly with a time of 1:00.54.
In diving action, Tobias swept both boards with a 239.47
score in the 3-meter board and 252.67 points in the 1-meter board.
With the victory, the women's swimming and diving team moves
to 10-1 in dual meet competition this season. 10 wins marks the highest
single-season record for most victories for the women's program since Head
Coach Larry VanWagner and Associate Head Coach Melanie Bolstad took over
responsibilities of both the men's and women's teams nine years ago.
The
Red Foxes will conclude their regular season next Saturday, Jan. 28 when they
will welcome Seton Hall to the McCann Natatorium in a 1 p.m. meet. Prior to the
beginning of the meet, this year's senior class will be recognized by the
Marist Athletic Department.
