BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Fairfield University swimming and diving teams opened the 2023 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship with a strong showing on day 1 of the event. The women's team garnered a first-place finish in the 800 free relay and a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay while the men's team secured a third-place swim in the 800 free relay. After the first five events, the women's team holds the top spot with 72 points while the men's squad lists fourth in the team standings with 86 points.
The Stags opened the evening with the women posting third place in the 200 medley relay by completing the distance with a time of 1:43.74. Fairfield was represented by
Erini Pappas,
Cailey Stockwell,
Alexandra Miko-Rydzaj, and
Serafina Viola. The men competed next in the same event and came away with fifth place by registering a school record time of 1:29.99 behind the efforts of
Oliver McLaughlin,
Chris Ford,
Evan Fair, and
Alexey Belfer.
The women continued their opening night success by collecting the gold medal in the 800 free relay after recording the top time of 7:30.50, nearly four seconds better than runner up Canisius College. The relay team included
Erini Pappas,
Sydney Scalise,
Serafina Viola, and
Erin Hoyland. The men's team also earned a medal in the event by touching the wall in third place by combining for a time of 6:38.10.
Joseph Stewart,
Tim Regan,
Ed Hunt, and
Evan Fair comprised the Stags' relay team. Stewart set a school standard for the lead off of the 800 free, swimming his portion in 1:37.50.
The diving portion of the MAAC Championships also started on Wednesday evening with the men's 1-meter preliminaries. Fairfield sent two divers to the A final with strong performances, namely
Samuel Tonole and
Noah Duncan. Tonole tallied the fourth-highest score with 240.25 points while Duncan's score of 199.80 was eighth in the standings.
The second day of the 2023 MAAC Championships continues on Thursday with the preliminaries slated for 10 am and the finals beginning at 6 pm. The MAAC Championship is a four-day event that runs through Saturday, February 11.
