WORCESTER, MA– After day one of the Gompei Invitational, the Saint Peter's swimming and diving programs sit in third place with 1,315.50 points. The Peacocks delivered several standout performances, collecting six gold medals and 12 total podium finishes, highlighted by
Paige Austin-Burrows breaking her own school record in the 100 butterfly.
During the preliminaries, Austin-Burrows smashed the Saint Peter's record in the 100 butterfly, slashing nearly two seconds off her previous mark from last year's MAAC Championships with a time of 55.86.
FINALS RESULTS
Saint Peter's set the tone in a dramatic fashion in the mixed 200 medley relay, taking first, second, and fourth while smashing both the meet and pool records. The SPU A relay of
Madison Petricevic,
Victor Fuentes, Austin-Burrows, and
Ashton Smith flew to a first-place finish in 1:37.28, breaking the previous mark set by Bryant in 2021 by 1.41 seconds. SPU B, made up of
Juan Nunez,
Gwendolyn Mendez, Tristan Raso, and
Maddie McKinney, followed in 1:41.92, while SPU C–
Austin Carducci, Ean Vellescig, Elettra Dalcerri, and
Eloise Schirtzinger–added valuable points with a time of 1:44.03.
The momentum continued in the women's 200 medley relay, where Petricevic, Mendez, Austin-Burrows, and McKinney out-touched Sacred Heart for gold in 1:45.38. SPU B (
Francesca Solano Vargas, Schirtzinger, Dalcerri, and
Niela Dawlett) landed a 12th-place finish in a field of 24 teams, clocking 1:53.63.
The men carried the relay success into their 200 medley event. SPU A (Nunez, Fuentes, Raso, Smith) secured another win for the Peacocks in 1:32.38, edging WPI A by nearly a full second. SPU B (Carducci, Vellescig,
Nikita Kaminskas,
Jeff Thompson) finished eighth in 1:36.89, while SPU C (
Anthony Torres, Emerson Tofel, Dean Lliguicota, Taj Seton-Martin) rounded out the event with a 1:47.05.
In the women's 200 IM,
Chris Carolin Weiss placed 16th overall in 2:17.41. On the men's side, Carducci, Vellescig, Fuentes, and Seton-Martin all advanced to the finals. Carducci led the group with a fourth-place finish in 1:56.83, followed by Vellescig in eighth in 1:57.49, Fuentes in 13th in 2:00.06, and Seton-Martin in 2:12.11.
In the women's 500 freestyle, Schirtzinger (5:26.61) and Solano Vargas (5:29.46) each added additional points on the board. On the men's side, Saint Peter's took two of the top three spots as Nunez claimed gold in 4:40.41 and
Patch Robinson earned bronze in 4:43.72. Smith finished eighth in 4:52.28, and Tofel added a 5:06.79 performance.
Mendez represented Saint Peter's in the women's 200 breaststroke and delivered a strong sixth-place finish in 2:27.61. In the men's 200 breaststroke, the Peacocks went one-two, with Vellescig taking gold in 2:04.49 and Fuentes securing silver in 2:07.11.
Austin-Burrows returned to the pool for the 100 butterfly final and narrowly missed gold, finishing second in 56.54, behind SHU's Sophia Velleco (55.80). Dalcerri (1:01.37) and Weiss (1:02.28) also posted solid swims. Raso dominated the men's 100 butterfly as the only swimmer under 50 seconds, winning in 49.97. Seton-Martin (54.81), Kaminskas (54.94), and Thompson (55.68) rounded out the event for the Peacocks.
In the women's 800 freestyle relay, the A team of Austin-Burrows, Schirtzinger, Mendez, and McKinney finished fifth in 7:59.62, while SPU B (Solano Vargas, Dalcerri, Weiss, Zeszotarski) placed 13th in 8:26.56. The men's 800 freestyle relay A team of Nunez, Robinson, Smith, and Thompson secured second place with a time of 7:04.16. SPU B added more points in 7:33.60.
UP NEXT
Saint Peter's returns to the pool tomorrow morning for day two of the Gompei Invitational. Action begins at 9 a.m. with the mixed 200 freestyle relay.
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