Geneva, Ohio- The Saint Peter's University Swimming & Diving team is set to compete in the 2024 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving Championships from Wednesday, Feb. 14 to Saturday, Feb. 17.
This is the first year that the conference championship will be held at SPIRE Institute. Previously, the MAAC Championships were held at Erie Community College in Buffalo, N.Y. Heading into one of the last meets of the season, the Peacocks were active in January and February. Since Jan. 13, Saint Peter's competed in five meets. The Peacocks are hoping to carry that activity and momentum into the most important conference meet of the season.
Saint Peter's Head Coach
Jose Cruz discussed his expectations for the team in the MAAC Championships.
"It's good for the team to be back at this meet. We look forward to out-working, out-performing, and out-doing our preseason ranking. It's time for the Peacocks to show off our true colors," Cruz said.
On the men's side,
Victor Fuentes and
Austin Arnold will enter the four-day meet with momentum from January. Fuentes won the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke heats against Monmouth on Jan. 20. Arnold won the long-distance heat against Long Island University on Saturday, Jan. 27. Arnold will look to have success in long-distance competitions, while Fuentes will look to find success in the breaststroke heats and other heats.
Saint Peter's men's roster has depth, which will help the team score points and win heats. Newcomers,
Ashton Smith and
Tristan Raso, have been impressive this season and will aim to perform well on the conference's biggest stage. From an experience perspective, senior captain
Yanis Benadouda will have one last opportunity to help his team perform well against the rest of the conference.
The women's side has been active with two all-women's meets against Siena and Manhattan on Sunday, Jan. 28 and Saturday, Feb. 3. In the meet against Manhattan,
Erin Dall'Agnol recorded two wins in the 50-yard breaststroke heat and the 100-yard breaststroke heat. That performance earned Dall'Agnol the MAAC Women's Swimmer of the Week honors for the week of Wednesday, Feb. 7. If Dall'Agnol can have a similar showing against some of the top competition in the conference, she could find herself in the swimmer of the week conversation once again.
Cassidy Mulligan and
Francesca Vargas are two other members of the women's swimming roster to keep an eye on during the championships. Overall, the men's and women's sides will want to have outstanding performances in Ohio.
The four-day meet will be broken up into sections. On Wednesday, there will only be one section, which will begin at 6 p.m. ET.
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