ANNAPOLIS, Md. -
The Marist men's swimming and diving team finished in sixth place with 276
points at the conclusion of the third day ECAC Swimming & Diving Championship
competition at the United States Naval Academy.
Strong efforts by freshman Jacob Baker (Shavertown, Pa.) and sophomore
Nick Spinella (Franklin Square, N.Y.) led the Red Foxes on Sunday.
The 1-meter board was the most successful event for the men's
squad on the final day as they had two top eight finishers in Baker and
sophomore Sean Molloy (Slingerlands, N.Y.).
Baker led the duo with a third place finish of 249.00. The freshman was
just 4.20 points behind Army's Chad Drake, who took second. Molloy finished his
six-dive final with 232.80 points, good for sixth place.
Spinella earned the highest finish in swimming action as he
swam to a time of 1:50.34 in the 200-yd backstroke. That time placed him fourth
in the Championship Final. Freshman Dylan Cummings (Midland Park, N.J.) also
swam in the finals. In consolation action, he finished in second place at
1:52.41.
The 200-yd butterfly was the most populous event as three
Red Foxes swam in finals action. Freshman Jason Ruddy (Lake Katrine, N.Y.) was
the top finisher as he raced in the Championship Final and came in sixth place
at 1:51.45. In Consolation Final action, junior Stephen Miller (Downingtown,
Pa.) won with a time of 1:53.35. Junior Dan Gaynor (Sonoma, Calif.) rounded out
the trio of Red Fox racers with a seventh place finish of 1:57.38 in the
Consolation Final.
A pair of Red Foxes finished top 16 in the 1650-yd freestyle,
senior Patrick Shea (Peabody, Mass.) and freshman Bill Drennen (Collegeville,
Pa.). Shea finished in 10th at 16:11.87, while Drennen came in 14th
at 16:23.52.
In the final event of the championship, the 400-yd.
freestyle squad of Spinella, Miller, Ruddy and freshman John Spitzer (Fairport,
N.Y.) finished in seventh with a 3:05.66
The ECAC Championship concluded with Navy victorious atop
the leaderboard of 20 teams, who scored points. They finished with 744.5
points, 241.5 ahead of their nearest competitor Bucknell.
Men - Team Rankings - Final
1. Navy - 744.5. 2.
Bucknell - 503. 3. Army - 493. 4. Columbia - 465.5. 5. Rider - 405.5. 6. Marist - 276. 7. Bryant - 231.5. 8. College of Staten Island - 172. 9. Manhattan - 99. 10. Adelphi - 52. 11. Baruch College - 50. 12. Stevens Tech - 34. 13. UMass-Dartmouth - 26. 13. St. Francis (NY) - 26. 15. Marywood - 22. 16. Pittsburgh - 20. 17. Lehman - 10. 18. Towson - 5. 19. WPI - 4.
20. SUNY-Old Westbury.
