2008 Woodie Awards
Women's swimming wins MAAC, men fall short
Mark Perugini
Issue date: 3/4/04 Section: Sports
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The Marist College men's swimming and diving team was the runner-up in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships, falling behind Rider University 877 to 868, while the women captured the championship on Feb. 21 in Baltimore, MD.
Overall, out of the 20 events that the men swam and dove in the championships, Marist captured nine of them.
Larry Van Wagner, Marist head coach, leading both the men and women's swimming teams for the first time in his coaching career, said that the men's team is still the powerhouse in the performance.
"Rider had nineteen official scores in the meet, and Marist had 18 official scores in the meet," Van Wagner said. "Basically, Rider beat us by one man and one event. However, I believe we still outperformed Rider."
The Red Foxes set three school records. Leading the way was freshman Nick Chevalier, who won all three of the events in which he competed.
Chevalier set the school records in the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle, finishing with times of 9:30.91 and 15:57.70, respectively. Chevalier also won the 500-yd freestyle with a time of 4:34.65, finishing as the MAAC Champion.
Junior Matt Castillo was impressive as well, winning two individual events. Castillo was the MAAC Champion in the 200-yard freestyle, and he set the school record in the 200-yard breast-stroke with a time of 2:04.70.
Junior Jeffrey Paul and senior Robert Dunn were key individuals in Marist's performance. Paul was crowned the MAAC Champion in the
50-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 21.11. Dunn was the MAAC Champion, winning the 100-yard breast-stroke with a time of 57.97.
"We trained extremely hard to prepare for this event," said Van Wagner. "Even though we placed second as a team in the conference, I still feel we were very successful."
Over the past nine years, the Red Foxes have dominated their competition. The men's team has won eight consecutive MAAC titles dating back to 1995. Marist also won the MCSC crown in 1994.
Overall, out of the 20 events that the men swam and dove in the championships, Marist captured nine of them.
Larry Van Wagner, Marist head coach, leading both the men and women's swimming teams for the first time in his coaching career, said that the men's team is still the powerhouse in the performance.
"Rider had nineteen official scores in the meet, and Marist had 18 official scores in the meet," Van Wagner said. "Basically, Rider beat us by one man and one event. However, I believe we still outperformed Rider."
The Red Foxes set three school records. Leading the way was freshman Nick Chevalier, who won all three of the events in which he competed.
Chevalier set the school records in the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle, finishing with times of 9:30.91 and 15:57.70, respectively. Chevalier also won the 500-yd freestyle with a time of 4:34.65, finishing as the MAAC Champion.
Junior Matt Castillo was impressive as well, winning two individual events. Castillo was the MAAC Champion in the 200-yard freestyle, and he set the school record in the 200-yard breast-stroke with a time of 2:04.70.
Junior Jeffrey Paul and senior Robert Dunn were key individuals in Marist's performance. Paul was crowned the MAAC Champion in the
50-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 21.11. Dunn was the MAAC Champion, winning the 100-yard breast-stroke with a time of 57.97.
"We trained extremely hard to prepare for this event," said Van Wagner. "Even though we placed second as a team in the conference, I still feel we were very successful."
Over the past nine years, the Red Foxes have dominated their competition. The men's team has won eight consecutive MAAC titles dating back to 1995. Marist also won the MCSC crown in 1994.