FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University swimming and diving teams were back in the pool on Saturday after nearly two months without a competition. The team just returned from their Hawaii training trip and was right back in the pool competing against St. Francis in Brooklyn, New York. Both the men's and women's team came out with a victory to start 2016 off on a high note. The women's team topped St. Francis 177.5-57.5. The men's competition came down to the final relay in which the Stags edged the Terriers by .03 seconds to claim the 122-109 victory.
Individually, it was Connor Daly who posted victories in the 200y IM (2:01.84), 100y Butterfly (52.03), and 100y Breaststroke (1:00.29) for the Stags. Also posting a victory for the men's side was Andrew Gormley in the 100y Backstroke (56.34).
In the 1000y freestyle, Andrew Robinson (10:16.54), a personal best, and Jameson Duncan (10:18.63) finished in second and third respectively to earn points for Fairfield. Ben Nelligan placed third in the 50y Freestyle with a time of 22.71. In the 100y Freestyle event, Brian Burke (49.38) and Andrew Tavcar (51.18) posted the second and third fastest times respectively. Duncan also grabbed a second place finish in the 500y Freestyle clocking in at 4:58.45. The men also posted victories in both the 200 Medley Relay and 200 Freestyle Relay.
On the women's side, six different Stags posted a victory. Donna Lam had two top place finishes, in the 200y Freestyle (2:00.41) and in the 100y Butterfly (1:00.28). Kelly Mulligan finished ahead of classmate Liz Avery in the 50y Freestyle with a time of 26.02 just ahead of Avery's 26.41. Grace Goddard claimed the top spot in the 200y IM clocking in at 2:17.71. Michelle Pleban bested Avery for first place in the 100y Freestyle finishing in 57.17 to Avery's 57.58. Danielle Latino got in on the winning action when she posted a victory in the 500y Freestyle with a time of 5:44.65. Emily Vlass was the final individual winner in the 100y Breaststroke with a time of 1:12.79. The women's team also posted victories in both relay events.
The divers saw much of the same success as Daniel Pires claimed first place in the 3-meter dive (291.70) and second place in the 1-meter (268.65). Leah Pawelczyk, Jane Rice, and Christine McCabe all contributed points to the Fairfield side in both the 3-meter and 1-meter events. Pawelczyk scored a personal best 209.25 and 157.35, Rice scored 189.25 and 224.80, and McCabe scored personal bests with both 177.70 and 168.05.
The men's team is back to competition at NJIT on January 23, while the women have a quick turnaround as they face Siena on Monday, January 18.
