BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Marist women's swimming and diving team continues to lead after the second day of competition at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship at the Burt Flickinger Athletic Center on the campus of Erie Community College. Starting the day 40 points ahead of Rider, Marist added 53 to their lead at 93 points after an outstanding evening in the pool. The Red Foxes set two school records and won four MAAC titles in eight events.
The school record breaking began with the evening's first race the 200-yd. medley relay. The team of junior Erica Vitale (Sterling, Conn.), sophomores Emily Miles (Long Valley, N.J.) and Maddie Arciello (Missoula, Mont.) and freshman Greta Leberfinger (Chatham, N.J.) set the score record in their 1:45.37 win.
The second school record was set by Leberfinger, who swam in the highly competitive 100-yd breaststroke race. Coming into the Championship, Leberfinger and Iona's Jamie Manser were the conference's top two swimmers in the breaststroke discipline by far. They did nothing to let the fans in attendance down on Friday. In the morning's prelims, they both set MAAC records and made the NCAA B Standard cut. In the finals, Manser held off Leberfinger, 1:01.51 to 1:02.17. Leberfinger's time broke Lauren Malski's previous 2007 record of 1:02.82.
Junior Kate Conard (East Setauket, N.Y.) collected Marist's first individual win of the evening in the 1000-yd freestyle where she cruised to a 9.34 second win at 10:06.07. She was joined in the top eight by sophomores Bonnie Orr (Fresno, Calif.) and Kim Kaller (New Providence, N.J.), who finished in third and sixth, with times of 10:19.03 and 10:22.40, respectively. Orr and Kaller's times place them fourth and fifth all-time in Marist's 1000-yd record book.
The Red Foxes' second individual MAAC title came via Emily Miles victory in the 100-yd butterfly. In event 19, the sophomore defended her 2011 title with an improved time of 56.44. This time re-sets her personal best and the number two all-time mark at Marist.
Senior Amanda Letchko (Newton, N.J.) led the Red Foxes in 400-yd IM action with a third place finish of 4:33.99. She was nudged out of second place by Loyola's Courtney Trivino by just .35 seconds. Vitale also raced in the A Finals and earned an eighth place finish at 4:37.69.
Marist also placed two swimmers in the 200-yd freestyle Championship Final with senior Michelle Fountain (Sayville, N.Y.) and Arciello competing. Fountain finished the race in third at 1:51.42, while Arciello finished one spot behind in fourth with a time of 1:54.20.
In the final individual swimming event of the evening, the 100-yd backstroke, senior Allison Kreho (Shelton, Conn.) swam to a seventh place finish at 1:00.00.
The 800-yd freestyle team of Arciello, Orr, Fountain and Conard finished concluded the night for Marist with its fourth win of the session. The quartet swam to a dominate time of 7:33.34, 6.92 seconds ahead of the second place Rider team.
After the second day of the championship, Marist leads the way with 541.50 points. Rider is second with 448.50 and Loyola is third with 348.
The 2012 MAAC Championship will continue on Saturday morning at 10 a.m., with the qualifying heats of events 33-40. The finals for the same events will be held Saturday evening, with the first race scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Marist looks to finish the competition strong and defend their MAAC crown.
Women's Standings (Through Event 30): 1. Marist - 541.50. 2. Rider - 448.50. 3. Loyola - 348. 4. Iona - 256. 5. Fairfield - 223. 6. Canisius -222.50. 7. Siena - 185.50. 8. Niagara - 166. 9. Saint Peter's -149. 10. Manhattan - 57.
