Buffalo, NY – Sophomore
Artur Polyak (Haifa, Israel / Pittsburgh) raced the 100 Back in a Manhattan-record 50.13 seconds in the 'A' final to finish fourth in the 100 Back at the MAAC Championships on Friday.
Polyak helped his cause with his time of 25.78 seconds on the return trip to the wall, the third-fastest amongst the field. He improved on his preliminary time by .71 seconds and earned 15 points for his efforts.
His performance was the highlight from a strong day for the men's swimming and diving team. Junior
Tyler Dalton (East Stroudsburg, PA / Pocono Mountain East) obliterated his own 400 IM record twice, the last of which in 4:06.76, and placed 14th overall in the event.
After missing the record by .12 seconds in the preliminaries, junior captain
Timothy Valentine (Massapequa, NY / Chaminade) swam the 100 Breast in 56.17 seconds in the 'B' final, the top time in that bracket, to set a new school-best. The race replaced his own mark he set in 2017.
To wrap up the evening, Polyak and Valentine teamed up with senior
Evan Battisti (East Meadow, NY / East Meadow) and freshman
Kyle Bergin (Lynbrook, NY / Lynbrook Senior) to race a record-setting 400 Medley Relay in 3:24.38. The previous 400 Medley Relay record was set back in 2013.
On the women's side, senior
Klaudia Nagrabska (Belmont, MA / Belmont) notched a season-best in the 100 Breast with a time of 1:07.21 to nab 10th place.
The quartet of Nagrabska, classmates
Megan Pagano (LaGrangeville, NY / Arlington) and
Morgan Fountain (Cheshire, CT / Cheshire) as well as freshman
Sarah Hamilton (Auckland, New Zealand / St. Cuthbert's College) swam the 400 Medley Relay in 4:08.88, a season-best.
Elsewhere, Pagano and freshman
Jamie Quinn (Fairfax, VA / WT Woodson) earned season-bests in the 100 Back to place inside the top 25. Junior captain
Kali Nembach (Lynbrook, NY / Lynbrook Senior) did the same in the 200 Free, coming .05 seconds short of her personal-best at 1:58.73.
Entering the final day of competition on Saturday, Manhattan occupies 10th place for both teams. The action begins from the Burt Flickinger Center at 10:00 am.
