College Swimming and Diving
Rider men and women at MAAC Championships
Men 2 of 10; Women 2 of 10 - After Day 1

BUFFALO, NY--The Rider men's and women's swimming and diving teams are competing at the 2013 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships (MAAC) in Buffalo, New York Thursday through Saturday at the Erie College Community Burt Flickinger Athletic Center.

After day one, the defending MAAC champion Rider men are in second place out of 10 teams and the Bronc women are also in second place out of 10 teams.  Marist College leads both the men's and women's competition.

"We were a little rusty in the morning (preliminaries)," said head coach Steve Fletcher.  "Every athlete showed character during the finals and their pride in representing Rider was clear."

For the Rider women, senior Kelly O'Connor (Beverly, Mass./Beverly) won the 200 IM in 2:06.43 after placing second in the preliminaries (2:07.56).  As a junior, O'Connor finished third in the 200-IM at the 2012 MAAC championships.

On day one for the Bronc men, junior Trevor Hiller (Galloway Twp./Absegami) took second on the three-meter dive (260.40), senior Johnny Funk (Las Vegas, Nev./Southeast Career & Tech. Academy) placed fourth in the 200 IM (1:50.82), freshman diver Wayco Bailey (Casper, Wyo./Natrona County HS) placed fourth on the three-meter dive (246.20), senior Julien Hensen (Delafield, Wisc./Kettle Moraine) finished sixth in the 200 IM (1:52.92) and freshman Jeffrey Prichard (Yorktown, Va./Tabernacle) placed sixth in the 50 free (21.13).

"It's about getting our hand on the wall at the end of races and move up from the preliminaries," Fletcher said.  "We have a young quad of female divers gaining valuable experience in their first MAAC championship meet and our men performed well in the three-meter finals to support the team score."

Also for the Bronc women, senior Katlyn Andrews (Lawrenceville/Notre Dame) finished second in the 50 free (24.02), senior Addie Oswald (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley) placed third in the 500 free (5:03.05), freshman Taylor Shelley (Wilmington, Del./Padua Academy) placed fifth in the 200 IM (2:09.15) and sophomore Gess Charniga (Kendall Park/South Brunswick) placed eighth in the 50 free (24.44).

Also for the Bronc men, senior Brian Molloy (Toms River/Toms River East) placed ninth in the 500 free (4:36.62), freshman Adam Phillips (Springville, Pa./Elk Lake) was 10th in the 50 free (21.45), sophomore Kevin McManus (Sharon, Mass./Sharon) placed 12th in the 500 free (4:41.58) and junior Sean Newhouse (Katy, Tex./Morton Ranch) came in 15th in the 500 free (4:44.75).

Other women's results included junior Melanie Leonhard (Piscataway) finishing ninth in the 500-free (5:05.98), sophomore Rachel Brooker (Stevens, Pa./Cocalico) placed 12th in the 200 IM (2:11.21), sophomore Morgan Kandrac (Hamilton/Notre Dame) finished 13th in the 200 IM (2:11.90), freshman diver Virginia Bresko (Bay Shore, N.Y./West Islip) placed 14th on the one-meter dive (160.14), senior Carly Misiewicz (Vineland/Sacred Heart) finished 15th in the 500 free (5:15.82) and sophomore Carlee Oswald (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley) swam for 16th in the 500 free (5:16.41).

The men's 200 free relay team of Prichard, Molloy, Phillips and Hensen won with a time of 1:35.66 and the 400 medley relay team of Funk, Hensen, sophomore Shane Tubb (Swedesboro./St. Augustine Prep) and Molloy finished second in 3:22.93.

The women's 200 free relay team of Andrews, Charniga, Misiewicz and A. Oswald placed second (1:23.27) and the 400 medley relay team of junior Danielle Warwick (Catonsville, Md./Mount de Sales Academy), Kandrac, O'Connor and A. Oswald also took second in 3:54.89.

The Rider men are the defending MAAC champions and the women placed runner-up to 13-time champ Marist last year.  Both the men and women placed runner-up in 2011 and 2010.  The last time the Rider women won the MAAC title was in 2009.

Day two of competition will begin Friday at 10:00 A.M.

"We have some work to do over the next two days," Fletcher said.  "We are prepared well for the challenge."

-RU-