BUFFALO, N.Y. – Marie Feneron (Molsheim, France/Lycee Henri Meck), Matea Samardzic (Split, Croati/Ekonomsko-Birotehnicka Skola) and Jonathan Gomez (Cali, Colombia/Patrick Henry [Va.]) each won an event to pace the Saint Peter's swimming and diving team on the third day of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday. The Peacocks men's team ranks third while the women's team sits in fourth place.
Feneron and Samardzic each won their second MAAC title in the 2015 championships. Feneron, who won the 200 IM on Thursday, won the 400 IM with a time of 4:24.55 on Friday. Samardzic repeated as the 100 back winner in style, winning the event with a new MAAC record and NCAA "B" Cut time of 54.45. Samardzic won the 500 free on Thursday.
Gomez grabbed the men's first gold medal after repeating as the 400 IM winner with an NCAA "B" Cut time of 3:52.34. Gomez also teamed up with Bence Greifenstein (Budapest, Hungary/Kerek), Manuel Garcia (Mexico City, Mexico/The American School Foundation) and Igal Oren (Jersey City, N.J./Ort Kiryar Bialik) to win the 400-medley relay with a time of 3:20.60.
Garcia posted the best time in the preliminaries of the 100 fly and finished second in the finals (49.87) while Greifenstein was the leader in the morning session of the 100 breast before placing second in the finals with a NCAA "B" cut time of 55.06. Oren finished third in the 100 breast (55.68). Nicholas Riepe (Middlesex, N.J./Saint Joseph) was third in the 1000 free (9:23.52).
Thomas Calloni (Jersey City, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) placed seventh in the 200 free (1:43.80) while Sean Dunne (Holmdel, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) was seventh in the 100 fly (59.70) and Alejandro Rubin placed 11th in the event (50.83).
Daniel Gayetsky (East Brunswick, N.J./East Brunswick) was eighth in the 1000 free and Diego Rueda (Bucaramanga, Colombia/School of the Future) placed 13th (9:53.68) in the distance race.
Also on the women's side, Samardzic, Anastasiia Mushtei (Dneiptopnovsh, Ukraine/Finans Deukomi), Feneron and Rachel Wuko (Wildwood Crest, N.J./Wildwood Catholic) placed second in the 400-medley relay (3:49.37). The Peacocks lost by .05 seconds in an attempt to win the event for the second-straight year.
Wuko placed third in the 200 free (1:52.70) and Mushtei was fourth in the 1000 free (10:27.01).
Christina Petrelis (Belle Mead, N.J./Montgomery) placed sixth in the 400 IM (4:37.01) and ninth in the 1000 free (10:40.83). Karen Castaneda (Woodbridge, N.J./Woodbridge) placed 11th in the 1000 free (10:47.01) and Nowras Halag (Shknin, Israel/Hofsharon) finished 13th in the 100 breast (1:09.69).
On the men's side, Rider leads the four-day competition with a score of 473 points while Marist (391), Saint Peter's (350), Canisius (331), Iona (247), Bryant (225), Niagara (205), Manhattan (179) and Fairfield (146) round out the nine-team field.
Marist leads the women's side with 609 points while Canisius (374), Rider (324), the Peacocks (291), Siena (276), Iona (274), Fairfield (219), Niagara (216) and Manhattan (119) round out the nine-team field.
The MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships conclude on Saturday with preliminaries starting at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. The 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 1650 free and the 400-free relay will be contested on Saturday. Samardzic won the 200 back, Wuko the 100 free and Gomez the 200 fly last season at the championships.
