JERSEY CITY, NJ– The Saint Peter's swimming and diving programs celebrated Senior Day at their final home meet of the season Saturday evening at the Eugene and Teresa Imperatore Swimming and Diving Center inside the Victor R. Yanitelli, S.J. Recreational Life Center.
The women's team fell to LIU (171-83), Monmouth (182-79), and Felician (156-103), while the men dropped head-to-head contests against LIU (163-82) and Monmouth (207-51) but defeated Felician, 146.5-75.5.
Despite the results, the Peacocks turned in several strong performances. The women totaled four podium finishes, led by an individual silver and bronze from
Paige Austin-Burrows, while the men recorded five top-three finishes, paced by a pair of bronze-medal swims from
Patch Robinson.
WOMEN'S HIGHLIGHTS
The 200 medley relay quartet of
Madison Petricevic, Gwendolyn Mendez, Paige Austin-Burrows, and
Elettra Dalcerri opened the meet and narrowly missed the podium, stopping the clock at 1:52.36, less than three seconds off third.
Maddie McKinney was just .28 seconds shy of a podium finish in the 1000 freestyle, touching the wall in 11:08.67. Monmouth's Hannah Parker claimed gold in 10:59.33, nearly five seconds ahead of the field.
Austin-Burrows secured the first podium finish of the evening for the women, earning bronze in the 200 butterfly with a personal-best time of 2:10.12. LIU's Aryka Bennett won the event in a personal-best 2:05.24.
Audrey Hill Franco competed uncontested in the one-meter dive, earning a score of 75.95 to take gold.
Francesca Solano Vargas narrowly missed the podium in the 200 backstroke, finishing fourth in 2:15.58, just one second off bronze. Monmouth's Jenna Pryne captured gold in 2:10.60.
Austin-Burrows recorded her second individual podium finish of the evening in the 200 breaststroke, hitting another personal best with a time of 2:31.93. Monmouth's Isabella Aguanno won the event in 2:26.34.
The final women's event of the night produced another podium finish, as the 200 freestyle relay quartet of Mendez, McKinney, Dalcerri, and Austin-Burrows secured silver in a tightly contested race, stopping the clock at 1:42.41. LIU's A squad finished first in 1:39.52.
MEN'S HIGHLIGHTS
The 200 medley relay team of
Juan Nunez, Victor Fuentes, Nikita Kaminskas, and
Ashton Smith secured the first podium finish of the evening, earning bronze in 1:36.47. LIU's A squad claimed gold in 1:34.25, edging Monmouth by just .01 seconds.
Nunez carried that momentum into the 1000 freestyle, earning another bronze with a time of 10:02.19. Monmouth's Ziv Cohen dominated the event, winning by more than 15 seconds in 9:43.82.
Fuentes narrowly missed a podium finish in the 100 breaststroke, finishing fourth in 58.63, just .13 seconds out of bronze. LIU's Polat Tasbasi was the lone swimmer under 57 seconds, winning gold in 56.53.
Patch Robinson secured a bronze finish in the 200 butterfly, touching the wall in 2:02.28. Monmouth's Kacper Sobieszuk won the event in 1:54.56, edging Felician's Malik Biad by .17 seconds.
The 200 breaststroke saw another bronze finish for the Peacocks, with
Ean Vellescig placing third in 2:11.89. Tasbasi earned his second individual gold of the meet, winning in 2:05.57.
Robinson capped the evening with the final podium finish for Saint Peter's, earning bronze in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:55.37. Monmouth's Izan Arroyo Lopez del Castillo dominated the event as the only swimmer under 4:40, winning in 4:38.32.
UP NEXT
The women's team gears up for its final meet before the MAAC Championships, traveling to Loudonville, NY, to face Siena in a head-to-head dual on Saturday, January 31, at the Siena Swim Center. First splash is set for 1 p.m., and the meet will be streamed on Siena All-Access.
The men's regular season concluded Saturday evening, and the program now turns its attention to the MAAC Championships, set for February 10-15 at the SPIRE Aquatics Center in Geneva, Ohio.
For continuing coverage of Saint Peter's University Athletics, visit SaintPetersPeacocks.com and follow the Peacocks on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
