The final dual meet of the season for the Purple Eagles swimming & diving teams takes place Saturday, Jan. 28 in Olean against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. This meet is the final tune-up for Niagara before the four-day MAAC Championships begin Feb. 8 at the Burt Flickinger Center in Buffalo.
 
Last weekend, the Purple Eagles swam their final two home meets of the season, honoring their graduating swimmers and divers on Senior Day against Canisius on Saturday, Jan. 21 before the women's team welcomed the University of New Hampshire to Monteagle Ridge on Sunday, Jan. 22. Against Canisius, seniors Shawn Warner and Sydney Kligys picked up individual wins in the pool, and sophomore Nicolas Winograd was a triple-winner for the Purple Eagles. The New Hampshire meet was highlighted by Cara Mergner's victory in the 1-meter diving event.
 
Last Time Out: Canisius

• Against Canisius, the Niagara men were led by Shawn Warner and Nicolas Winograd. Warner won both of the men's butterfly events with a 51.22 in the 100 fly and a 1:53.68 in the 200 fly.
• Warner (1:58.38) took second in the 200 IM behind Winograd (1:58.01), and Andreas Rintel came in third at 1:58.77 to give Niagara the 1-2-3 finish.
• Winograd also picked up individual wins in the 100 breaststroke (59.12) and the 200 breaststroke (2:13.32).
• Seniors Robert Brown and James Crumm earned second-place finishes in the 50 free and 100 free, respectively.
• Rintel (100 backstroke, 200 backstroke) and Daniel Ronen (500 free, 1000 free) each earned a pair of second-place finishes.
• Sydney Kligys won the 50 free against Canisius in 25.21, and she helped Niagara to a 200 medley relay win with a time of 1:51.42, swimming with Bridgette Ehrmann, Julia Casolo, and Kristen Suarez.
• Casolo was also a double-winner against Canisius, winning the 100 fly in 1:00.91 and the 200 fly in 2:15.44. Hannah Charlton took second place behind Casolo in both races.
• Nastassja Posso picked up a second-place finish in the 200 free with a season-best time of 1:59.11.
• Ehrmann (200 breaststroke) and Montanna Valler (1000 free) also picked up second-place finishes for Niagara.

 
Last Time Out: New Hampshire

• Cara Mergner's 1-meter diving win highlighted Niagara's performance against the New Hampshire Wildcats, as she took first with a score of 219.75. Mergner placed second on the 3-meter board with a score of 213.90.
• Julia Casolo (59.62) and Hannah Charlton (1:01.82) both improved upon Saturday's 100 fly times in Sunday's meet, but finished third and fourth, respectively, against the Wildcats.
• Annie Eckhardt, Sydney Kligys, Nastassja Posso, and Julia Casolo earned a second-place finish in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:41.92.

 
Warner Named MAAC Male Swimmer of the Week

• Shawn Warner's performance against Canisius earned him Male Swimmer of the Week honors from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) on Wednesday.
• It was the third individual honor of the season for Warner, who was named MAAC Male Swimmer of the Week on Oct. 12, 2016 and CollegeSwimming MAAC Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 9, 2016.
• Warner holds eight MAAC top-10 times with one meet to go before the MAAC Championships. His 52.71 in the 100 IM against Fredonia on Oct. 8, 2016 is a Niagara program record and the fastest time by any MAAC swimmer this season.

 
St. Bonaventure Bonnies

• The St. Bonaventure men's and women's swimming & diving teams swim their second-last regular season meet at Buffalo on Friday before returning home to host Niagara on Saturday.
• The Bonnies won a total of 12 events in their last home meet against Cornell as the men were outscored 168.5 to 124.5 and the women fell by a score of 180-118.
• The Bonnies' women swept the breaststroke events against Cornell, with Alyssa Levac (1:06.19) winning the 100 breaststroke and Maria Rocchi (2:23.68) taking first in the 200 breaststroke.
• The men's team was led by double-winner Michael White, who was a double-winner versus Cornell with victories in the 200 fly (1:54.30) and the 200 breaststroke (2:07.53).
• Matt Goettler gave the St. Bonaventure men a sweep of the breaststroke events as well with a time of 57.97 in the 100 breaststroke. Matt Taccard took first in the 200 backstroke at 1:57.06.

 
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