Swim Teams Shine On Day Two Of 2017 Metropolitan Conference Championships
UB Women Move Into First Place And Purple Knights' Men Are Now In Third Place Heading In Sunday's Final Day Of Action
Piscataway, N.J.-The University of Bridgeport women's and men's swimming teams continued to shine on day two of the three-day 2017 Metropolitan Conference Championships on Saturday at the Sonny Werblin Recreation Center Natatorium on the campus of Rutgers University. The UB women have moved up from second place after day one to lead their meet after day two with 747 points. The Purple Knights are locked up in a tight battle with second place Rowan University for the team crown, as Rowan has amassed 738 points. The College of New Jersey is in third place in the women's meet with 646 points. The Bridgeport men jumped up one spot on Saturday to third place with a total of 726 points. The College of New Jersey leads the men's meet with 957 points, and Rowan is second place with 936.5 points.
Individually for the Purple Knights' women, junior Annagrazia Bonsanti (Caracas, Venezuela) won her second event of the weekend on Saturday taking the top spot in the 400-yard IM in a time of 4:34.86.
In the women's 200-yard Freestyle, sophomore Oksana Marchuk (Mlyniv, Ukraine) led a UB sweep of the first three places winning her second event at the 2017 Metro Championships in a time of 1:49.16. Junior Rebeka Repman (Sombor, Serbia) was second (1:52.60), and sophomore Nina Stegu (Ljublijana, Slovenia) took third (1:53.03).
Senior Yekaterina Gakhokidze (Almaty, Kazakhstan) gave the Purple Knights first place points in the women's 100-yard Butterfly taking the event in a time of 57.81
The UB women closed out Saturday's competition in fine style winning the 800-yard Freestyle Relay, as Annagrazia Bonsanti, Jera Majeric, Nina Stegu and Rebeka Repman touch the wall in a time of 7:36.80.
For the Bridgeport men, freshman Erik Hren (Maribor, Slovenia) won his second individual event in the first two days of the Metro Championships taking first in Saturday's 200-yard Freestyle in a time of 1:38.53. Senior Ivan Sangines (Barcelona, Spain) took third place in the same event (1:40.00) and sophomore Klavio Meca (Triana, Albania) grabbed fourth place (1:40.78).
After winning the men's 200 IM on Friday night, senior Didac Matsuyama (Barcelona, Spain) became a double 2017 Metropolitan Conference Championships individual winner taking the top spot in the 100-yard Butterfly in a time of 48.52. Junior Brian Kelly (Mahwah, N.J.) took fifth place in the same event turning in a time of 50.47.
In the men's 100-yard Backstroke, sophomore Wilmar Du Plessis (Bloemfontein, South Africa) came up big for the Purple Knights taking second place in a time of 50.33.
Like the UB women, the Bridgeport men closed out Saturday night on a high note winning the 800-yard Freestyle Relay, as Didac Matsuyama, Ivan Sangines, Klavio Meca and Erik Hren covered the course in a time of 6:40.59.
Action will conclude at 2017 Metropolitan Conference Championships on Sunday evening.