LOUDONVILLE, NY—The Saint Peter's women's swimming team closed their MAAC dual schedule Saturday afternoon with a head-to-head meet at Siena Swim Center, falling 176–74 in its final conference match up before the MAAC Championships. Despite the result, the Peacocks collected 11 podium finishes, highlighted by individual golds from
Francesca Solano Vargas in the 100 backstroke and
Gwendolyn Mendez in the 100 IM.
The 200 medley relay squad of
Madison Petricevic, Gwendolyn Mendez, Paige Austin-Burrows, and
Elettra Dalcerri opened the meet with a third-place finish, touching the wall in 1:54.07. Siena's A relay took first in 1:50.05, followed by Siena B in 1:53.29.
Solano Vargas and
Maddie McKinney went 1-3 in the 100 backstroke, with Solano Vargas out-touching Siena's Mary Ellen Stratman by .17 seconds to take gold in 1:02.17. McKinney followed closely in 1:02.57.
Eloise Schirtzinger secured a pair of bronze finishes, placing third in both the 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle with times of 1:14.48 (SB) and 58.76, respectively.
Austin-Burrows earned bronze in the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.62, while Siena's Clara Samko claimed gold in 25.01. Petricevic added a silver finish in the 50 breaststroke, touching the wall in 32.89, just behind Siena's Kayla Lombardo (32.42).
Mendez and
Chris Carolin Weiss went 1-2 in the 100 IM, with Mendez claiming gold in 1:05.12 and Weiss posting a personal best of 1:06.55.
The Peacocks closed the afternoon on a high note, sweeping the top two spots in the 200 freestyle relay. SPU A–Austin-Burrows, Petricevic, McKinney, and Dalcerri–finished first in 1:43.02, followed by SPU–Schirtzinger,
Niela Dawlett, Solano Vargas, and Mendez–in 1:50.57.
UP NEXT
Saint Peter's gears up for the MAAC Championships, scheduled for February 10-15 at the SPIRE Aquatics Center in Geneva, Ohio.
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