NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College men's swimming and diving team opened up Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action Friday evening at the Hynes Athletics Center Pool with a convincing victory over Manhattan. The Gaels touched first in 12 of the 14 events to pick up a 127-124 victory.

In the opening event, the 200 yd medley relay, the Iona "A" relay of freshman Ralph Porazzo, sophomore Chris Yacobacci, senior Patrick O'Reilly and freshman Justin Grigull picked up the win, finishing with a time of 1:41.45. The Iona "B" relay of freshmen Mark Wallace, Chris Giovine, Ryan Bacci and sophomore Jay Wegimont took third with a time of 1:45.51.

In the 1000 yd freestyle, the Gaels took three of the top four stops. Freshman Nick Kotonias took first with a time of 10:12.74. Sophomore Zachary Benoit was third with a time of 10:38.88. Senior Michael O'Connor was fourth, finishing with a time of 11:23.74.

Grigull picked up an individual victory with a first place finish in the 200 yd free. Grigull touched the wall with a time of 1:50.93. Junior Raymond Joyal took second with a time of 1:55.31 while rookie Patrick Garvey was third with a time of 1:57.32.

In the 100 yd backstroke, Porazzo was first with a time of 55.03. Wallace was right behind in second with a time of 55.50. Sophomore Marty Callinan was fourth with a time of 1:04.02.

Yacobacci took first in the 100 yd breaststroke with a time of 59.97. Giovine was third in the event, finishing with a time of 1:04.43. Bacci was fifth with a time of 1:06.04.

The Gaels took the top three slots in the 200 yd fly with O'Reilly taking first with a time of 2:07.47. Sophomore Michael Wu was second with a time of 2:08.31. Wegimont was was third with a time of 2:09.80.

In the 50 yd free, Grigull finished second with a time of 22.60. Senior Graham Weir was third with a time of 22.98. Porazzo was fourth with a time of 23.25.

Grigull responded in his next event, the 100 yd free, with a first place finish in a time of 48.54. Weir was third with a time of 50.67 while freshman Curtis Cello was fifth with a time of 53.25.

In the 200 yd backstroke, Porazzo won the event with a time of 2:02.45. Wallace finished with a time of 2:05.04. Joyal finished the event with a time of 2:17.79.

Giovine took first in the 200 yd breaststroke with a time of 2:17.28. Garvey finished the event in a time of 2:19.02.

The Gaels took three of the top four spots in the 500 yd free including top finished Nick Kotonias. Kotonias touched the wall with a time of 4:57.88. Yacobacci was second with a time of 5:02.64 while Benoit had the fourth best time of 5:14.13.

Iona had the top two finishers in the 100 yd fly with O'Reilly coming in first with a time of 57.06. Wu was second in the event, finishing with a time of 57.23.

Iona had the three best times in the 200 yd IM with Yacobacci (2:06.19), Kotonias (2:06.54) and Bacci (2:09.18) posting the top scores in the event.

The 200 yd free relay of Garvey, Wallace, Bacci and Weir closed out the meet with a finish of 1:32.56 in the event. The relay of Cello, freshman Vincent Carbone, Joyal and Wu finished with a time of 1:35.82.

The Gaels are back in action Nov. 13 when they travel to Buffalo, NY to take on Canisius, with events beginning at 10:00 am.