BUFFALO, NY – The Rider University women's swimming and diving team opened the 2018 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships on Wednesday evening with several strong performances. The four-day event takes place February 14-17 at the Burt Flickinger Athletic Center at Erie Community College.

After the first night of action, the Broncs are tied with Canisius in second-place with 97 points. Marist is at the top of team leaderboard heading into Thursday with 113 total points.

In the first event of the championships, the Rider quartet of junior Taylor Stalnaker (Monroe, NY/Monroe-Woodbury), senior Tara Maniace (Neptune, NJ/Neptune), sophomore Casey Wrabley (Forest, VA/Jefferson Forest) and junior Victoria Evans (Egg Harbor, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) finished second in the 200 medley relay with an ECAC-qualifying time of 1:45.41 to earn 34 points.

The Broncs also got strong showings from a trio of divers as junior Breanne Hatter (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown HS South), freshman Meagan Fornero (Conroe, TX/Legacy Prepatory Christian Academy) and sophomore Meg Tomayko (Murfreesboro, TN/Siegel) all scored points in the 1M diving event. Hatter, who had the top score in the preliminaries, finished in second-place to earn silver with a score of 238.65 in the finals.

In her first MAAC Championship appearance, Fornero landed in eighth-place with a mark of 213.65, while Tomayko won the consolation final. Tomayko came in ninth overall with a score of 235.60 in the finals.

To close out the evening, the Broncs landed in sixth-place in the 800 free relay as the team of junior Amy Rheel (Mercerville, NJ/Notre Dame), Wrabley, senior Hannah Bayer (Forest Hill, MD/Bel Air) and Stalnaker posted a time of 7:51.02.  

The Broncs return to the pool tomorrow, February 15 with preliminary heats in the morning and the finals for five events in the evening starting at 6:00 pm. 

QUOTES
"We had great energy tonight at the finals. We've got to treat each session with the same focus and enthusiasm in order to stay competitive this weekend." – Rider Head Coach Steve Fletcher

"Our women competed at lifetime best splits in the 200 Medley Relay, while Amy Rheel led off our 800 at a lifetime best. Our divers were great in the one meter. Meagan and Bre both making finals is a huge contribution and Meg Tomayko winning consolation is exactly the type of effort we'll need from everyone to stay in the hunt." – Fletcher