FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University men's and women's swimming and diving teams will head to the 2016 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships February 10-13 at Erie Community College in Buffalo, N.Y.
The MAAC will be streaming the event live on MAAC.tv. Live results will also be available for the event by visiting MAACSports.com.
The mid-February event will be the last MAAC Championships for seniors Kate Ansani, Liz Avery, Nick Cannone, Connor Daly, Danielle Latino, Kelly Mulligan, Michelle Pleban, Andrew Robinson, and Callie Vacchiano.
Fairfield has much to be excited about heading into the Championships as a number of swimmers have been performing at a high level all season long. Four athletes earned MAAC weekly awards this season. First, on November 4 the duo of Kelly Mulligan and Daniel Pires were named the female swimmer and male diver of the week respectively. Then a few weeks later on November 25, Fairfield swept all four weekly awards with Daly (male swimmer), Pires (male diver), Mulligan (female swimmer), and Jane Rice (female diver) all being recognized by the MAAC. And most recently Pires was named the diver of the week for the third time on February 3.
That week, the junior diver set two diving records against Iona. He broke program records in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. Topping scores that were set back in 2009, he scored 336.90 in the 1-meter and 327.40 in the 3-meter.
Earlier in the season Connor Daly came near to topping his program records in the 400 IM (4:02.10) and 200 IM (1:52.32) at the Terrier Invitational. The senior posted the second fastest times in program history with a 4:04.62 placing him in the Bonus Final of the 400 IM and swam a 1:55.15 to finish 20th overall in the event.
During the three-day event that was the Terrier Invitational a number of Stags set personal bests and placed their names among Fairfield's Top-10 list. In the final day of the event, 21 swimmers posted personal bests in their respective events.
The freshmen class has been particularly impressive this season, proving that their rookie status is not holding them back. In just their first season as a Stag, four swimmers have put their names in the program's record book. Justin Touve has posted Top-10 times in the 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, 500 Free, and 200 IM. Edmund Falcigno posted a Top-10 time in the 100 Back, Ben Nelligan in 100 Fly, and Evan Gorman in 200 Fly.
The women's team has been just as impressive setting multiple personal bests all season long. Mulligan, the senior, has been an outstanding performer throughout her career and will no doubt find success at the upcoming MAAC Championships. During the season, she posted the second fastest time in program history at the Terrier Invitational in the 200 Back when she swam a 2:06.08. The senior also holds the program's second fastest time in the 100 Back.
One program record that was broken at the Terrier Invitational was the 200 Freestyle relay in which Pleban, Kelly Cordes, Mulligan, and Avery posted a time of 1:38.38 and finished 12th overall in the event.
The rookie impact was also felt on the women's side as five freshmen notched their name in the Fairfield record book. Kelly Cordes posted Top-10 times in the 100 Free, 200 Free, 500 Free, and 100 Back. Emily Vlass recorded Top-10 times in the 100 Breast, 200 IM, and 400 IM. Grace Goddard has her name on three Top-10 times in the 200 Fly, 200 IM and 400 IM. Donna Lam also has three Top-10 times in the 50 free, 100 Fly, and 200 Fly. And on the boards, Jane Rice has holds Top-10 times in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.
Both teams will look to improve upon last year's finish at the MAAC Championships, in which the men finished in ninth place with a total of 207 points while the women totaled 298 to earn seventh place.
