New Rochelle, NY - The Iona College men's and women's swimming and diving teams recognized its seniors today before the final home meet of the season. After Jason Felix, Mark Rich, Eric Nowokowski, William Walsh, Audrey Emaus, Kristin Heller, Amanda McCarthy, Lauren Finnegan and Kerby Lewis got their applause, the cheers didn't stop there from the crowd as the Gaels downed Canisius 134-83 on the women's side and 128-101 on the men's side.
“We had a solid effort after a hard week of work following
Thanksgiving break," said head coach Nick Cavataro. "We were very pleased obviously with our 14 individual
winners in 28 events, including women double winners Megan McNeely and Kerby Lewis.”
McNeely took the Women's 200-Free in 2:04.28 and the Women's 500-Free in 5:30.34. Lewis won the Women's 400 IM with a time of 4:49.46 and touched first in the Women's 100-Free at 55.18.
“We had five freshmen win events today, which is
a good sign for the rest of the season," continued Cavataro. "Christine Larkin swam a very controlled
1650-free “the swimming mile” and went 18:06.67, which is the third
best in Iona history and ranks her number 1 in
the MAAC today." Freshman Patrick O'Reilly posted a stellar performance in the 1650-Free with a time of 17:59.67, which is number 6 in the MAAC. "It really was his first race
over 500-yards ever, so we were pleased.”
Freshmen Samantha Cody continued her strong butterfly swimming by taking the 100-Fly and classmate Sarah
Walker
was excellent in breaststroke winning the 100-yard race at 1:10.99,
ahead of seniors Lewis and McCarthy.
On the men's side, freshman Seth Tasman returned to
action for the first time since a skateboard accident required him to have elbow
surgery. His return was a sweet one as he posted a strong time of 22.31, tying senior Jason Felix for the 50-Free win. His time places him tenth in the MAAC this season. "For a debut race, it
was excellent,” said Cavataro.
The Men's and Women's teams head back to the pool as they take on Stony Brook and St. Francis (NY) at Stony Brook on Tuesday, December 4 at 5 PM.
