EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – Fairfield University Men's Swimming and Diving completed the fall portion of its 2018-19 schedule with a third-place performance at the ECAC Winter Championships. The Stags strong showing was highlighted by ECAC Men's Diver of the Meet honors for Lukas Stanton and Men's Diving Coach of the Meet laurels for Dan Vener.
 
"I am incredibly impressed with our student-athletes this weekend," said Head Coach Anthony Bruno. "We faced tough competition from many different conferences and our men and women both responded to the challenge. I thought the staff did a great job prepping the team this week for meet and it showed."
 
Bruno was named the Women's Coach of the Meet after leading Fairfield Women's Swimming and Diving to their first-ever ECAC Championship.
 
"I am humbled that my peers voted for me as the Women's Coach of the Meet," Bruno added. "It is truly a shared award, and I could not do what I do without the help of Amy and especially Frisk for their work day-to-day. Coach Dan being voted Men's Diving Coach of the Meet is well deserved and is very exciting for our program."

Fairfield's men claimed third place at the regional meet for the second consecutive season, earning 1,152.5 points over the three days of action. NJIT won the team crown followed by Monmouth as the only two squads ahead of the Stags in the 11-team field. Fairfield topped clubs including MAAC foe Manhattan as well as Lafayette of the Patriot League and the NEC's St. Francis Brooklyn.
 
Stanton won the 3-meter dive with a score of 206.0 and placed second I the 1-meter dive with a 198.65 to lock up his Diver of the Meet distinction. Stanton accounted for 60 points for the Stags with two of the squad's top individual finishes of the weekend.
 
In swimming events, Patrick Boyle led the effort with a second-place time of 16:22.13 in the 1650y freestyle and a third-place effort at 4:12.25 in the 400y IM. Both swims marked personal season-best times for the rookie.
 
The Stags totaled eight top-five finishes for the weekend. In addition to Stanton's showing on the boards and Boyle's pair of medals, Michael Sparks finished fifth in the 1650y freestyle with a time of 17:07.29. Peter Sloan slotted fifth in the 100y breaststroke with a season-best time of 58.44 seconds, and Jack Benavides also merited a season best in the 200y breaststroke, placing fifth with a time of 2:10.57.
 
The Stags' top relay the 800y freestyle quartet of Peter Gori, Phillip Zyskowski, Jordan Rahurahu and Brendan Finnegan. The team finished fifth in their event, touching the wall at 7:07.61.
 
Fairfield returns to competition on Jan. 4 on Staten Island for a meet with Saint Peter's. The Stags are back at RecPlex Pool on the following Friday, Jan. 11, to challenge Holy Cross at 4 p.m.