Women's Swimming Opens Season at Sarah Lawrence Sprint Carnival

BRONXVILLE, NY – Coming off their first winning season in school history, the St. Joseph's women's swim team kicked off their 2011-2012 campaign with a third place finish at the Sarah Lawrence Sprint Carnival over the weekend. The Lady Bears were among five schools at the meet, which included both Hudson Valley Women's Athletic Conference Rivals Sarah Lawrence and New Rochelle and tough Division III schools Brooklyn College and Fairleigh Dickenson.

St. Joseph's had a strong showing from both their returners and their new faces. Senior Kristen McMaster (Brooklyn, NY/Fontbonne Hall) turned in top finishes in four events. As an individual, McMaster finished in third place in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 1:07.53. Her time of 1:22.61 in a thrilling 100 yard individual medley race was good for fourth place and was less than one second behind the second place finisher. She was also a part of the 200 yard medley relay which finished in fourth place and the 200 yard freestyle relay which took home third place.

Seniors Alison Nunziata (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Kearney), Catherine Muldoon (Brooklyn, NY/Fontbonne Hall) and Darcy Crimi (Glendale, NY/Christ the King) all turned in strong performances in their individual races. Nunziata set a personal best time in the 50 yard freestyle, finishing in 29.74 and in third place for the Lady Bears. Muldoon was St. Joseph's top finisher in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 2:49.29, good for sixth place. Crimi finished in sixth place in the 100 yard butterfly, with a personal best time of 1:31.20.

Sophomore Jaclyn Kennedy (Breezy Point, NY/Fontbonne Hall) also swam in four events. She was the lead leg as the Lady Bears won the 200 yard backstroke relay. She also finished in fifth place in a tightly contested 50 yard backstroke, with a time of 38:57. Freshman Rebecca Sacerio was also a part of the first place 200 yard backstroke relay and placed fifth in both the 100 yard backstroke and the 100 yard freestyle. She was the Lady Bears' top finisher in the 100 yard backstroke, completing the race in 1:22.49.

Hudson Valley rival Sarah Lawrence won the meet scoring 213 points followed by Fairleigh Dickenson in second place with 193 points. The Lady Bears took third overall with 167 points and Brooklyn College and New Rochelle rounded out the team scoring with 128 and 97 points respectively.

The Lady Bears are back in the pool on November 14th travelling to Hudson Valley rival New Rochelle. Meet time begins at 7:30 pm.