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Iona University Athletics

Michael Faughnan
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Men's Swimming & Diving IonaGaels.com

Iona Men Take Fifth; Women Place Sixth at MAAC Swimming & Diving Championships

Faughnan wins fifth gold and named Most Outstanding Performer

The 2024 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships wrapped up Saturday night in splashing form with Iona winning the meet's final race and Michael Faughnan securing his second consecutive MAAC Outstanding Swimmer Award.
 
Held at the Spire Institute and Academy in Geneva Ohio the four-and-one half day event saw the Iona men end in the 40-event meet in fifth place and the Iona women climbed to sixth place.
 
Marist College ended the decade-plus run of Rider with 664-points; Niagara was second with 533; Rider fell to third at 516 with Fairfield ahead of Iona at 474.5 points to Iona's 397-points. Canisius, Mount Saint Mary's, St. Peter's and Manhattan rounded out the field.
 
The Iona women, which started the day in eighth place, climbed briefly to fourth behind some strong freestyle races, only to slip sixth in a tight team race that saw Niagara post 697-points; Fairfield had 635; Marist, 598-points. Canisius (332), Mount Saint Mary's (312.5) Iona (307) and Siena (303.5) were separated by less than 29-points, with Siena, Rider, Manhattan and St. Peter's rounding out the field.
 
The night belonged to Michael Faughnan, as he claimed his third gold medal of the meet, successfully taking down the 2022 meet mark held by Monmouth star, Callan Smith in the 200-yard back at 1:43.89. Faughnan led wire to wire and posted an NCAA Consideration qualifying time of 1:43.61 for the win. Freshman teammate Kieran Egan was sixth at 1:51.62.

In the meet's final event, the men's 400-yard Freestyle Relay Egan led off with a 45.09 leg, followed up by freshmen classmate Nate Wales at 44.64. The third leg had Liam Pyatt go 45.26 as Faughnan anchored the team to a new school record of 2:58.20, just missing the MAAC mark set by Order in 2019 by .07. It was Faughnan's fifth gold in the meet, the other came on the last night and he anchored the 400-Medley Relay to gold.

The Iona women's largest scoring event came in the 1650-Freestyle where freshmen Anabel Huffstutler took bronze at 17:28.35, with graduate student Tristan Urso fifth at 17:34.97; freshmen Kate Kennedy was eleventh at 17:46.77 and sophomore Katherine Sarnes was fourteenth at 18:00.96. The men's race had Junior Matthew Woyksnar place ninth at 16:11.16. The 100-yard Freestyle for women had Isabella Nicholson, in her final individual event take bronze, just missing by .1 the school record with a 51.31 clocking. Senior Megan Josephs was fifteenth at 52.77. The men's race had Freshmen Nate Wales post a career best time 45.36 taking twelfth.

The 200-yard Breaststroke saw sophomore Brennyn Veit place thirteenth at 2:24.32. Junior Ashley Benkert claimed the eleventh spot in the 200-Butterfly at 2:07.32. The men's race had Junior Brian Baldwin place sixth at 1:51.12, with freshmen Noah Giunta winning the consolation heat at 1:50.44, with sophomore Andrew Diano fourteenth at 1:54.07.
The Men's 1-Meter Springboard had sophomore Dylan Riccio, take the sixth spot at 214.35. Nicholson (51.55), Josephs (51.88), Freshmen Ela Goucher (54.02) and Benkert combined for a season best effort at 3:30.16 for sixth place in the 400-Freestyle Relay.

Meet results can be found at https://maacsports.com/tournaments/?id=1664&path=swd and using the Meet Mobile app under the meet name "2024 MAAC Men's and Women's Championships".
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Players Mentioned

Brian Baldwin

Brian Baldwin

Fly/Back
6' 2"
Junior
Andrew Diano

Andrew Diano

Middle Free
6' 2"
Sophomore
Michael Faughnan

Michael Faughnan

Middle Free
6' 6"
Senior
Liam Pyatt

Liam Pyatt

Fly
6' 2"
Senior
Dylan Riccio

Dylan Riccio

Diver
5' 11"
Sophomore
Matthew Woyksnar

Matthew Woyksnar

Distance Free
6' 0"
Sophomore
Ashley Benkert

Ashley Benkert

Fly
5' 6"
Junior
Megan Josephs

Megan Josephs

Breast/Sprint
5' 8"
Senior
Isabella Nicholson

Isabella Nicholson

Mid-Distance
5' 11"
Graduate Student
Katherine Sarnes

Katherine Sarnes

Distance
5' 4"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Brian Baldwin

Brian Baldwin

6' 2"
Junior
Fly/Back
Andrew Diano

Andrew Diano

6' 2"
Sophomore
Middle Free
Michael Faughnan

Michael Faughnan

6' 6"
Senior
Middle Free
Liam Pyatt

Liam Pyatt

6' 2"
Senior
Fly
Dylan Riccio

Dylan Riccio

5' 11"
Sophomore
Diver
Matthew Woyksnar

Matthew Woyksnar

6' 0"
Sophomore
Distance Free
Ashley Benkert

Ashley Benkert

5' 6"
Junior
Fly
Megan Josephs

Megan Josephs

5' 8"
Senior
Breast/Sprint
Isabella Nicholson

Isabella Nicholson

5' 11"
Graduate Student
Mid-Distance
Katherine Sarnes

Katherine Sarnes

5' 4"
Sophomore
Distance