East Meadow, NY – In a captivating display of teamwork and consistency, Manhattan men's swimming and diving recorded a program-record 1,048 points in the 2018 ECAC Winter Championships, slotting in fourth place.
The women's side jumped a spot from Saturday to Sunday to finish 13th throughout the three-day meet held at the Nassau County Aquatic Center.
It is the first time in school history that the Manhattan men eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau at the ECACs and the third time since the 2013-2014 campaign that the Jaspers have earned fourth. Since 2012-2013, the Kelly Green and White have registered top-five performances in all but one season.
Sophomore
Artur Polyak (Haifa, Israel / Pittsburgh) made individual history of his own when he earned gold in the 200 IM on Saturday in 1:55.31. Polyak is Manhattan's first ECAC individual champion in the 200 IM and the second Jasper to win an event, joining teammate
Timothy Valentine (Massapequa, NY / Chaminade), who won the 100 Breast back in 2016.
Manhattan has only a short time to rest before participating in the Battle of the Bronx against Fordham on Wednesday, December 5. The first event is expected to start at 6:00 pm.
FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS
- In her first ECAC dive, freshman Lexington Passamonte (Rochester, NY / Greece Athena) placed fifth in the one-meter, tallying 175.45 points. Classmates Connor Marshall (West Hartford, CT / Avon Old Farms) and Tommy Courtney (Thornwood, NY / Archbishop Stepinac) went fourth and fifth, respectively, in the three-meter.
- Manhattan's top Men's 200 Medley Relay was fourth with a time of 1:35.23, as Polyak and Valentine combined with freshmen Kyle Bergin (Lynbrook, NY / Lynbrook Senior) and Matthew Shen (Waxhaw, NC / Marvin Ridge).
- Freshman Branden Deiss (Benoni, South Africa / Crawford College Lonehill) captured fourth in the 1650 Free in 16:37.19, with senior captain Evan Battisti (East Meadow, NY / East Meadow) two spots behind him at sixth.
SATURDAY HIGHLIGHTS
- Deiss and Battisti went back-to-back at 10th and 11th, respectively, in the 500 Free.
- In addition to Polyak's winning race in the 200 IM, three other Jaspers placed inside the top 20: junior Tyler Dalton (East Stroudsburg, PA / Pocono Mountain East) at 12th, Valentine at 19th and freshman Michael Popescu (Matthews, NC / Marvin Ridge) at 20th.
- Junior captain Kali Nembach (Lynbrook, NY / Lynbrook Senior) tied for 24th to earn points in the 50 Free. On the men's side, Bergin as well as sophomores Derek Lederer (Blauvelt, NY / Tappan Zee) and Charles Ledda (New Fairfield, CT / New Fairfield) were 16th, 17th and 18th to collect 27 total points.
- Nembach combined with senior captain Morgan Fountain (Cheshire, CT / Cheshire) and freshmen Jamie Quinn (Fairfax, VA / WT Woodson) and Sarah Hamilton (Northland, New Zealand) to swim the 200 Free Relay in 1:41.61, earning 22 points. Two Jasper Men's 200 Free Relay teams totaled 71 points.
- Dalton was fourth in the 400 IM in 4:12.64.
- Bergin swam the 100 Fly in 52.02 seconds for eighth place and 22 points.
- Deiss, Battisti, Bergin and Shen recorded points in the 200 Free, fitting in the top 21.
- Valentine led Manhattan in the 100 Breast with his time of 58.80 seconds, placing eighth.
- Sophmore Kevin Richard (Pompton Plains, NJ / Pequannock Township) was 12th in the 100 Fly in 55.47 seconds, Manhattan's top time in the event.
- Polyak, Valentine, Bergin and Shen were fourth in the 400 Medley Relay at 3:29.93.
- Passamonte earned fourth in the three-meter dive with 180.45 points.
SUNDAY HIGHLIGHTS
- Polyak took home the silver in the 200 Back in 1:50.31, half a second off the lead. Senior Tameryn Huffman (Albuquerque, NM / Cibola) and freshman Dominick D'Esposito (Monroe Township, NJ / Saint Joseph) were 11th and 12th.
- Led by Polyak's third-place, 46.79-second swim, three Jaspers fit inside the top 15 in the 100 Free.
- Juniors Dalton, Valentine and Will Kulp (New Fairfield, CT / New Fairfield) went fourth, sixth and ninth in the 200 Breast as Manhattan collected 70 points between the trio.
- Freshmen Grace Tague (Wantagh, NY / Wantagh) and Katelyn Hall (Nanuet, NY / Albertus Magnus) paired up with seniors Cassandra Rubino (Thiells, NY / North Rockland) and Genna Lederer (Blauvelt, NY / Tappan Zee) to swim the 400 Free Relay in 3:59.76.
- On the men's side, Battisti, Ledda, Bergin and Polyak were fifth in the relay in 3:10.10.
PERSONAL BESTS
