The Purple Eagles swimming and diving teams are rapidly approaching the MAAC Championships, which will take place Feb. 10-13 at the Burt Flickinger Center in Buffalo, N.Y. On Saturday, Niagara gets to swim at that facility in their annual dual meet against the rival Canisius Golden Griffins. The meet is scheduled to begin Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
 
Last Time Out
 

• Niagara was swept by the University at Buffalo Bulls last weekend. The men's team lost 130-104, while the women's team lost 139-92 in the dual meet.
• Robert Brown won the 50 free with a time of 21.72, and he also swam on a 200 free relay team with Eric Ebert, Nick Rogers, and James Crumm than took first in 1:28.20.
• Shawn Warner won the 200 IM after clocking a 1:56.11, while Nicolas Winograd (58.75), Andreas Rintel (1:03.18) and Nathan Booth (1:03.46) took the first three sports in the 100 breaststroke.
• Daniel Ronen earned a second-place finish in the 1000 free with a 10:11.06, while Ebert placed second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55:36.
• For the women's team, Julia Casolo, Brianna Smith, Annie Eckhardt, and Sydney Kligys teamed up to take first in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:43.29.
• Eckhardt (1:12.88), Bridgette Ehrmann (1:13.77), and Grace McMahon (1:21.79) took the top three spots in the 100 breaststroke.
• Emily Deck and Cara Mergner earned points for Niagara with respective scores of 180.53 and 163.58 in the one-meter dive.
• Ryan Monteleone took first in the three-meter dive with a score of 222.30.

 
Battle of the Bridge
 

• While this meet does not count for points in the Battle of the Bridge, it will serve as a warmup for the MAAC Championship, where the men's and women's swimming and diving teams each have two points up for grabs.
• In the yearly all-sports competition held between Niagara and Canisius, the Golden Griffins currently hold a lead of 7.5 to 4.5.
• Niagara took two points from a women's soccer victory and two volleyball match wins.
• Canisius took four points from higher finishes in men's and women's cross country at the MAAC Championships, in addition to two points for a men's soccer win and one point for a hockey win.
• The two schools each earned 0.5 points from a tie in hockey.
• In last year's dual meet against Canisius, Niagara was swept with both the men's and women's teams falling by scores of 182-117.
• Shawn Warner took first place in three events, winning the 200 butterfly in 1:56.48, the 500 freestyle in 4:51.41, and the 200 IM with a time of 1:59.31.
• Sydney Kligys took first place in the 100 butterfly (1:01.51) and Emma Pullano took top honors in the 200 IM with a time of 2:21.58.

 
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