Results

Princeton, N.J. - (Nov. 14, 2009) - The Fordham University swimming and diving teams wrapped up competition at the Princeton "Big Al" Open on Saturday, turning in season-best performances in 14 events.

The morning session began in the 200 medley relay, as Fordham posted two season-best efforts. The women's "A" relay of Brienne Ryan, Nicole Marshall, Kelly Bunster, and Kellie Lyver, placed second overall in a season-best time of 1:46.39, while the men's "A" relay of Billy Colton, Michael DiDonato, Ryan Coombs, and Justin Coombs, also placed second in a season-best time of 1:36.03.

In the 400 individual medley event, Courtney Collyer and Andrew Buemi put forth season-best performances. Collyer took third overall in 4:31.73, while Buemi was 11th in a time of 4:21.17.

In the 100 butterfly, three women finished in the top ten, led by Kelly Bunster in fourth (58.06), while Collyer was 7th (58.65) and Ryan was 10th (59.04). On the men's side, Ryan Coombs placed fourth in a time of 52.30.

The next event was the 200 freestyle, where the Fordham women were dominant, placing six swimmers in the top 13 finishers. Caitlin Napoli had top performance, taking third in a season-best time of 1:53.60, while Tressa Dunn was sixth (1:54.95) and Megan McGorry was eighth (1:56.04). In the men's race, Ryan Coombs was ninth overall (1:45.97) followed by his brother, Justin in 11th (1:46.53).

In the 100 breaststroke, Nicole Marshall put forth her best effort of the season, taking third in a time of 1:06.18, while the men's team had four swimmers in the top 11. DiDonato was fifth overall in (1:00.86), followed by Matt Grabiak in sixth (1:01.04), Sean McManus in 10th (1:02.06), and Joe Hines in 11th (1:02.29).

Brienne Ryan continued her excellent week in the 100 backstroke. After breaking the record twice this week, Ryan won the 100 backstroke in a time of 55.93 seconds, just missing her earlier record of 55.84, set yesterday as a part of the 400 medley relay. Christina Cosentino took fifth overall in the 100 back (59.29) followed by Napoli (1:01.10) and Dunn (1:01.18) in 10th and 11th place, respectively. Billy Colton just missed making it a sweep, as he grabbed second place in the 100 back in 52.28 seconds, while Robert Gitman was fifth (53.54) and Thomas Yi was sixth (53.91).

The final races of the morning session came in the 800 freestyle relay, as Fordham took third in the women's race, as Dunn, McGorry, Allie Alessi, and Napoli posted a time of 7:48.96. The men's top relay of Gitman, Jason Dobbs, Dan Swensen, and Eric Prendergast finished sixth overall in 7:21.60.

The afternoon session began with the 1650 freestyle, as McGorry took fourth for the women in 17:16.47, while Monson was sixth for the men in 16:37.03.

Next up was the 200 backstroke, as Ryan and Cosentino both placed in the top six. Ryan was second overall in a season-best time of 2:03.64, while Cosentino was sixth in 2:08.72. For the men, Gitman and Colton finished fifth (1:55.53) and sixth (1:56.16) respectively.

In the 100 freestyle, the Fordham women had three top ten finishers, led by Bunster in third place at 53.33 seconds. On the men's side, Justin Coombs took tenth place in 47.78 seconds.

The meet then returned to the breaststroke, as Marshall put forth another season-best effort, swimming 2:23.40 in the 200 breaststroke, good for third overall. In the men's race, Grabiak had a fourth place finish in 2:12.89.

The final individual event was the 200 butterfly, as Collyer took third in 2:03.80, followed by Napoli (8th - 2:07.72), Bunster (9th - 2:09.96), and Kim Bouton (11th - 2:10.61). Ryan Coombs was again the top finisher for the men, as he placed fifth in the 200 fly in 1:57.96.

The Invitational concluded with the 400 freestyle relay. For the women, Bunster, Ryan, Dunn, and Napoli placed second overall in a season-best time of 3:31.88, while the men's team of R. Coombs, Colton, Rami Fetyani, and J. Coombs was third in a season-best time of 3:10.63.

The Fordham swimming & diving teams will next be in action on Saturday, November 21st, when they host their annual tri-meet with Duquesne and Rhode Island, beginning at 12:30 PM.