Mount Saint Mary Blue Knights Take Second

PURCHASE – Junior Kyra McNamee scored the team’s lone individual victory of the day and Head Coach Daniel Drury was named the Skyline Conference Women’s Coach of the Year following a second place finish for the Mount Saint Mary College Women’s Swimming team at the 2018 Skyline Conference Championship Meet. The Knights finished the event in second place for the second straight year, totaling 343 points.

McNamee posted a strong day for the Knights, scoring the win in the 500-yard freestyle race and taking third in the 100-yard freestyle event. Her victory came in a time of 5:22.78, just over a second slower than her Skyline Conference Championship Meet record, and posted a time of 55.92 in the 100-yard race, narrowly missing the school record of 55.65 seconds.

Senior Marissa Catania and freshman Shayla McCarroll both picked up runner-up finishes for the Knights on Saturday. Catania took second in the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:33.39, while McCarroll swam to a second place finish in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:18.11. McCarroll added a third place finish for the Knights in the 200-yard individual medley, showing a time of 2:24.37.

Daley O’Keefe scored a pair of top-10 finishes for the Mount on Saturday, swimming to a third place finish in the 500-yard freestyle and a sixth place finish in the 200-yard backstroke. Her freestyle finish came in 5:37.50, while she posted a time of 2:21.89 in the backstroke event.

A day after setting the Skyline Conference Championship record in the 200-yard butterfly, freshman Katie Barber scored a pair of top-10 finishes on Saturday. She swam a time of 2:25.92 in the 200-yard individual medley, good for fourth place, and added a seventh place finish for the Knights in the 100-yard butterfly, touching out in 1:05.97.

Seniors Danielle Hughes and Samantha McGregor both turned in sixth place finishes for the Mount on Saturday afternoon. Hughes swam a time of 2:45.88 in the 200-yard breaststroke, while McGregor was the Mount’s top finisher in the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 1:05.51. Hughes closed out a strong day with an 11th place finish in the 100-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 1:01.23.

Junior Lauren Schroeder scored two top-10 finishes for the Knights, taking eighth in the 100-yard freestyle and 10th in the 100-yard butterfly. Her freestyle finish came in 58.96 seconds, while her butterfly race was completed in 1:12.29.

Mount Saint Mary also received top-10 finishes on Saturday from freshman Laynie Callo and sophomore Taylor Hollis. Callo took ninth in the 200-yard backstroke in a time of 2:31.51, while Hollis swam a time of 2:57.08 in the 200-yard breaststroke, also good for a ninth place finish.

The Knights received strong efforts on Saturday from freshmen Samantha Gangemi and Sophia Reinhardt as well as junior Sarah Quade. Gangemi finished 11th in the 200-yard backstroke and 12th in the 200-yard individual medley, with Quade scoring an 11th place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke and Reinhardt taking 12th in the 500-yard freestyle.

Mount Saint Mary finished off the 2018 Championship Meet with a third place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Schroeder, Hughes, O’Keefe and McNamee swam a time of 3:57.22 in the final event of the meet.

The United States Merchant Marine Academy won its second straight conference crown with a total of 587 points, followed by the Knights and Sarah Lawrence. USMMA freshman Victoria Kirshner was named the Most Outstanding Performer and Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year at the conclusion of the meet, with Drury taking home Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his three season at the helm of the Mount swimming programs.

Mount Saint Mary continues the 2017-18 season when it takes part in the Metropolitan Championship starting on February 16.