BUFFALO, N.Y. -
The Marist men's swimming and diving finished in third place at the 2012 Metro
Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship at the Burt Flickinger
Athletic Center on the campus of Erie Community College. In a back-and-forth battle with Canisius throughout
the final day for second place, a .32 advantage in the 400-yd free relay by the
Golden Griffins clinched the position.
Freshman Jason Ruddy (Lake Katrine, N.Y.) was the top individual
finisher for the Red Foxes on the day.
Competing in the 200-yd. butterfly, Ruddy collected the team's
first MAAC title of the meet in school record time. He won the race with a time
of 1:49.40 that helped him re-set his Marist record. He was one of three Red
Foxes, who competed in the Championship Final. Juniors Stephen Miller
(Downington, Pa.) and Dan Gaynor (Sonoma, Calif.) finished at 1:53.31 and
1:56.68, good for fifth and eighth place.
The 200-yd backstroke, sophomore Nick Spinella (Franklin
Square, N.Y.) came in to the evening's final as the top seeded following a
preliminary time of 1:51.00. In the Championship Final, Spinella cut 1.06
seconds off of that time, though it was naught as Rider's Johnny Funk held on
for the title. Freshman Dylan Cummings (Midland Park, N.J.) joined Spinella as
a top finisher with his time 1:52.44, good for fourth place.
The Red Foxes' youth continued to be on the display on the
third day as freshmen John Spitzer (Fairport, N.Y.) and Bill Drennen
(Collegeville, Pa.) highlighted the team's efforts in the 100- and 1650-yd
freestyle events. In the 100-yd freestyle finals, Spitzer earned a fourth place
finish at 46.74. He was joined in the finals by sophomore Alex Lombardi
(Branford, Conn.), who clocked in at 47.09 in seventh. Drennen led Marist's distance
corps with a sixth place finish in a time of 16:09.99.
The Championship concluded with the much-anticipated 400-yd
freestyle relay. Going into this final event, Marist found itself with a 1.5
point lead over Canisius in the fight for second place. The team of Lombardi,
Ruddy, Spitzer and Spinella swam an extremely close race that came down to a
0.32 second margin between them in the Golden Griffins. When the race was over
Canisius finished in third place at 3:05.77, while the Red Foxes' time of
3:06.09 earned them fifth place.
When it was all over, Rider was atop the standings with 717
points. Canisius finished second with 587.5 points, while Marist completed the
meet with 585.
The men will continue competition next weekend with the ECAC
Championships in Annapolis, Md.
Final Men's Standings 1. Rider -717. 2. Canisius - 587.5 3. Marist - 585. 4. Loyola - 485 5.
Iona - 305. 6. Fairfield - 300. 7. Saint Peter's - 285. 8. Niagara - 252. 9.
Manhattan - 214.5
