Lady Bears Come up Short Against Brooklyn College

BROOKLYN, NY - The Lady Bears swim team put forth a quality effort, but came up short in a meet at Brooklyn College 70-51. St. Joseph's had four girls and one relay team finish in first place at the meet.

St. Joseph's held the early lead, 8-7, after two events, taking eight points when juniors Elizabeth Fiorella (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) and Darcy Crimi (Glendale, NY/Christ the King) finished one, two in the 500-yard freestyle. Both girls put up their best times of the season, with Fiorella breaking eight minutes (7:57:97) and Crimi bettering her time by 14 seconds from last week's home opener (8:31:57).

However, Brooklyn took first and second place in the following two events to put the Lady Bears in a big hole. Sophomore Olivia O'Hara (Brooklyn, NY/Fontbonne Hall) did her best to keep the team alive, winning both the 100-yard Backstroke in 1:25:02 and the 100-yard Breaststroke in 1:32:10. Senior Brianne Reilly (Queens, NY/Frank Sinatra) also did her part, squeaking out a victory in the 50-yard Breaststroke. Her time of 40.51 narrowly edged the second place finisher by 1.9 seconds.

The Lady Bears had their opportunities to steal points away from the Bulldogs, but fell just shy on numerous occasions. Junior Alison Nunziata (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney) finished second in two thrilling races, the 50-yard Freestyle and the 50-yard Butterfly. Her time of 29.90 in the free was just .63 seconds away from the winner, Marisa Paolillo.

St. Joseph's took the final event of the night, the 200-yard Freestyle Relay. The team of Kristen McMaster (Brooklyn, NY/Fontbonne Hall), Nicolle Velez, Reilly and Nunziata finished in 2:05:07 in their first time swimming the relay event this season.

The Lady Bears dive back into their home pool on Monday, November 29th against SUNY Purchase. Meet time is scheduled for 7:30 pm at Brooklyn Technical High School.