Marist Men’s Swimming and Diving Wins H2Ounds Invitational

BALTIMORE, MD – The Marist men’s swimming and diving team placed first at the H2Ounds Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

The Red Foxes finished with 1,074 points, topping host Loyola University (1,025), Iona College (629) and Saint Peter’s University (382). With the results, Marist improves to 6-1 on the season.

Following the conclusion of the meet, sophomore Evan Nilsson was named the Men’s Swimmer of the Meet after he picked up wins in the 500 yard freestyle, 1650 yard freestyle and 200 yard backstroke. Senior Peter Gallino and sophomore Raislan Aiken were named Co- Men’s Diver of the Meet after Gallino finished first in the 1 meter and second in the 3 meter, while Aiken finished first in the 3 meter and second in the 1 meter.

Building off their strong performance in the opening session on Friday, the Red Foxes picked up a first place finish in the 200 yard freestyle relay with the team of junior Daniel Knoll, freshman Diego Faucher, senior Robert McDowell and junior Gregory Violette finishing with a time of 1:24.25.

Marist then followed that up with a top finish in the 400 yard individual medley with freshman John Hurley securing first place with a final time of 4:03.02. Freshman Jackson Klarsfeld finished second with a time of 4:04.19.

The Red Foxes went 1-2-3-4 in the 200 yard freestyle with junior Miquel Madeira securing the win with a time of 1:41.03, followed by freshman Murray Coueslant (1:42.29), sophomore Michael O’Donovan (1:42.93) and junior Michael Valceanu (1:42.95).

In the 1,650 yard freestyle, Marist went 1-2-3 with Nilsson finishing first with a time of 15:51.85, followed by Hurley (16:02.71) and O’Donovan (16:12.82).

On the diving board, the Red Foxes went 1-2 in the 1 meter dive with Gallino picking up the win with a score of 278.50. Aiken placed second with a score of 254.20.

Nilsson added another first place finish, this time in the 200 yard backstroke, finishing with a time of 1:48.81 that was just .7 seconds off the school record. The record is the oldest standing record for the men’s team, having been set in 2001.

Madeira picked up his second first place finish on the day, taking the top spot in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 0:46.11, while Knoll finished second with a time of 0:46.18.

In the 200 yard butterfly, Coueslant finished first with a time of 1:50.90 and junior Michael Valceanu placed second with a time of 1:51.94.

In the 400 yard freestyle relay, Marist went 1-3, with the team of Knoll, freshman Diego Flaucher, Coueslant and Madeira securing the top spot with a time of 3:04.68, while Valceanu, Nilsson, senior Robert McDowell and junior Gregory Violette finished third with a time of 3:07.65.

The Red Foxes picked up a third place finish in the 200 yard medley relay with the team of McDowell, junior Edward Oser, Valceanu and Knoll finishing in 1:33.63 and a fourth place finish in the 200 yard breaststroke with Klarsfeld finishing with a personal best time of 2:06.99.

The Red Foxes have over a month off before they head down to Orlando, FL for the team’s winter training trip at the YMCA Aquatic Center from Dec. 29 through Jan 3.