Lawrenceville, NJ – The Rider University women's swimming and diving team fell to visiting Lehigh, 201-99, in their home opener on Saturday afternoon in a dual meet at the Coppola Pool inside The Maurer Center.

The Broncs (1-2) dropped their second dual meet in the Garden State this season, while the Mountain Hawks (3-1) have won three of their first four meets to start the year.   

Rider got a strong performance on the day from freshman Maeve Lersch (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper Saint Clair High School). Lersch won the 100 back with a time of 59.13 and she also posted a second-place finish in the 50 free.

Senior Tara Maniace (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) and junior Olivia Cann (Woodbury Heights, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) were the two other Broncs to win races on Saturday. Maniace won the 100 breast with a time of 1:08.30 and Cann came in first in the 200 back thanks to a time of 2:13.41.

In the diving events, Rider got solid performances from the duo of junior Breanne Hatter (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown HS South) and freshman Meagan Fornero (Conroe, TX/Legacy Prepatory Christian Academy). Hatter won the 1M with a score of 265.27 and Fornero came in third with a mark of 235.05. In the 3M event, Fornero earned a second-place finish with a score of 259.13, while Hatter finished in third with 247.50.

Notes & Quotes
- The Broncs finished in first-place in four events.
- Rider had two of the top-three finishers in both the 1M and 3M diving events.  
- Hannah Bayer finished second in the 500 free with a time of 5:29.66
- Casey Wrabley came in third in the 200 fly thanks to posting a time of 2:14.56.
- Tara Maniace finished second in the 200 breast (2:31.08).
- Lersch has finished in the top-two in the 50 free back-to-back dual meets.
- Hatter has won the 1M in back-to-back dual meets.
- Fornero has finished in the top-two in the 3M in both of her appearances this year.

Up Next
Rider returns to action next Saturday, October 28, with a home dual meet against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foe Marist. The meet gets underway at 1:00 pm at Coppola Pool on campus during Homecoming weekend and it is the final home meet for the Broncs in 2017-18.