BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Saint Peter's women's swimming and diving team won two relays while Matea Samardzic (Split, Croati/Ekonomsko-Birotehnicka Skola) and Alexandra Sison (Jersey City, N.J./Saint Dominic Academy) each won an individual title to help Saint Peter's to a third-place standing after the second day of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Swimming & Diving Championships on Friday night. Jonathan Gomez (Cali, Colombia/Patrick Henry [Va.]) picked up his second conference title to help the men's swimming and diving team to a fourth-place standing.
Samardzic, Sison, Cristina DeCisneros (Tampa, Fla./Sickles) and Rachel Wuko (Wildwood Crest, N.J./Wildwood Crest) continued to dominate in the pool in the relays at the league championships. Coming off the heels of winning the 400-medley relay in a MAAC record time of 3:46.90 on Thursday, the quartet established another MAAC record and won the 200-medley relay by over a second with a time of 1:43.42.
Samardzic then teamed up with Wuko, Alma Lopez (Lawrenceville, Ga./Brookwood) and Marie Feneron (Molsheim, France/Lycee Henri Meck) to close out the second night of the championships with a win in the 800-free relay with a time of 7:37.44. The Peacocks have now won three of the four relays in the first two days of the competition.
Along with being a member of three winning relay teams, Samardzic won her second individual event on Friday. The freshman, who won the 200 IM on Thursday, narrowly missed an NCAA "B" cut time in her win in the 100 back after winning the event by 1.02 seconds and missing the "B" cut time by .42 seconds with a time of 55.59 seconds.
Sison won the 100 breast by nearly two seconds with a time of 1:04.09. It is the junior's second individual win at the championships after winning the 200 breast last season. She will have a chance to defend her crown in the 200 breast on Saturday.
For the second-straight night, Gomez recorded the lone win for the men's swimming and diving team. The freshman, who won the 200 IM on Thursday, cruised to a win in the 400 IM, winning event with a time of 3:55.41 and beating the second-place finisher by nearly six seconds.
Also, on the women's side, Anastasiia Mushtei (Dneiptopnovsh, Ukraine/Finans Deukomi) and DeCisneros earned spots on the podium. Mushtei finished second in the 1000 free with a time of 10:33.35 while DeCisneros was third in the 100 fly with a time of 57.64.
Feneron finished eighth in the 100 fly (59.44) while Christina Petrelis (Belle Mead, N.J./Montgomery) recorded two Top-10 finishes after placing eighth in the 400 IM (4:42.75) and 10th in the 1000 free (10:38.94).
Brigitte Rasmussen (Virgin Islands/Country Day School) finished eighth in the 100 breast and Jenna Carbin (Neptune, N.J./Jackson Memorial) ended ninth in the 100 back (59.43) and 16th in the 100 fly (1:01.09).
Lopez placed 10 in the 200 free (1:58.17) and 13th in the 1000 free (10:44.25) while Nowras Halag (Shknin, Israel/Hofsharon) was 12th in the 100 breast (1:07.96) and Michelle Corpuz (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) finished 14th in the 100 back (1:00.03).
Marist leads the three-day event with a score of 514 while Rider (385), Saint Peter's (374.5), Canisius (367.5), Iona (288), Siena (248), Fairfield (152), Niagara (152) and Manhattan (84) round out the nine-team field.
On the men's side, Nicholas Riepe (Middlesex, N.J./Saint Joseph) finished second in the 1000 free (9:21.85) and Manuel Garcia (Mexico City, Mexico/The American Foundation School) was second in the 100 fly (50.35).
Sean Dunne (Holmdel, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) was fourth in the 100 breast (57.34) and fifth in the 100 fly (50.54) while Trey McGraw (Berkley, W. Va./Patrick Henry) placed seventh in the 200 free (1:43.23) and Alejandro Rubin (Caracas, Venezuela/San Ignacio) finished ninth in the 100 fly (51.24). Omar Hassan (Bayonne, N.J./High-Tech) also picked up points for Saint Peter's with a 16th-place standing in the 100 back (55.28).
McGraw, Rubin, Gomez and Riepe placed fifth in the 800-free relay (6:55.38) while Gomez, Paolo Jimenez (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne), Garcia and Dunne finished seventh in the 200-medley relay (1:34.09).
Rider leads the men's competition with a score of 533 while Marist (493), Canisius (393), Saint Peter's (268), Niagara (244), Bryant (242), Iona (205), Manhattan (175) and Fairfield (157) round out the nine-team field.
The Peacocks conclude the MAAC Championships on Saturday. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. and finals are set to start at 6 p.m. Teams will compete in the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and the 400-free relay to close out the championships.
