JERSEY CITY, N.J. – In the No. 7 Moment we focused on a freshman swimmer that had an outstanding freshman campaign. In the No. 6 Moment we will focus on a freshman swimmer that had an outstanding freshman campaign. Does it seem like we are having déjà vu all over again? While Jonathan Gomez (Cali, Colombia/Patrick Henry [Va.]) burst into the water on the men's side, Matea Samardzic (Split, Croati/Ekonomsko-Birotehnicka Skola) had just as big of a freshman impact for the Saint Peter's women's swimming and diving team to splash into the No. 6 Moment in our Top-15 Moments Countdown.
Just like Gomez, Samardzic was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Swimming and Diving Championships on Feb. 15. She was named the MAAC Swimmer of the Week three times and the Corvias ECAC Metro/Update Swimmer of the Week once.
While Gomez was the third Peacock to garner Swimmer of the Meet honors for the men, Samardzic was the first-ever for the Saint Peter's women's team. The freshman also helped the women's team matched its best finish in program-history with a fourth-place standing.
Samardzic won three individual events and was a member of three winning relays to be the female recipient of the MAAC Most Outstanding Swimmer honor at the MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships. The freshman capped the three-day event after winning the 200 back with a meet record time and an NCAA "B" cut mark of 1:56.22. She posted a time of 1:57.18 in the preliminaries, which also set a MAAC record and NCAA "B" cut time before shattering the record in the finals. Samardzic also won the 200 IM on the first day with a time of 2:05.10 and the 100 back on day two with a time of 55.59.
Samardzic was also a member of the winning the 200-medley relay (1:43.42) and the 400-medley relay (3:46.90) in MAAC record fashion and also was a part of the winning 800-free relay squad (7:37.44).
We are now in the final two weeks in our Top-15 Moments of 2013-14. Don't forget to come back on Wednesday when we unveil the No. 5 Moment in our 2013-14 Top 15 Moments Countdown.
Be sure to talk about the countdown with your fellow flock on twitter by using the hashtag #peacock15 and make sure you check us on Facebook or Twitter. If you are not a fan or a follower, now is the time to start and get all the news on Saint Peter's Athletics from your favorite social media outlet.
Schedule Of Release For The 2013-14 Top-15 Moments Countdown
No. 15 Moment: Women's Volleyball Rallies From Match Point Down To Five-Set Win Against Niagara
No. 14 Moment: Baseball Escapes With 9-8 Win Against Seton Hall
No. 13 Moment: Power Supply: Olmedo Smacks Walk-Off Homer Against Canisius
No. 12 Moment: Flash Mobb: Men's Soccer Downs Bryant On Golden Goal
No. 11 Moment: Hopf And Kristoffersen Etch Names Into Baseball Record Book
No. 10 Moment: 20-20 Vision: Kaydine Gets Niagara All Bent Out Of The Shape
No. 9 Moment: Bill Stein Named Director of Athletics Emeritus
No. 8 Moment: Student-Athletes Excel In The Classroom
No. 7 Moment: Gomez Butterflies His Way To Most Outstanding Swimmer Of Meet Honor
No. 6 Moment: Samardzic Becomes First Peacock MAAC Women's Swimmer Of Meet
No. 5 Moment: July 30, 2014
No. 4 Moment: August 1, 2014
No. 3 Moment: August 4, 2014
No. 2 Moment: August 6, 2014
No. 1 Moment: August 8, 2014
