The Bison men’s and women’s swim and dive team finished off their season this past weekend at the ECAC Championships at Lejeune Hall. Both teams finished in the top 10, with the women placing fourth and the men placing second.

On the first day of the championships, the women’s team stood at seventh place (74 points) and the men stood in fifth place (85 points). For the men, Alec Baker ’23, Will Hedges ’25, Chris Fabian ’24 and Justin DiSanto ’25 won silver in the 400 medley relay. Their time of 3:17.83 is the fourth-fastest in Bison history in this race.

Four individual finalists also competed. Fabian placed ninth in the 50 freestyle, Hedges came in 12th in the 200 IM and DiSanto finished 14th in the 500 freestyle. The top individual swimmer for the Bison was Noah Basista ’24 in the 200 IM.

For the women’s team, Maddie Hartigan ’22 and Sabrina Vumbacco ’23 once again impressed. Hartigan came in 10th in the 50 freestyle and Vumbacco claimed sixth in the 200 IM.

Meagan Hathaway ’22 placed 11th in the 200 IM, representing the team’s top finalist. The Bison’s relay teams each had a seventh place finish.

The second day each team moved up in rankings, the men’s team now claiming third and the women’s team claiming fifth. 

Important points were earned by Fabian in the 100 backstroke, John Gehrig ’24 in the 100 butterfly, and Chris Kopac ’25 in the 400 IM. Each swimmer placed second in their respective event. The 800 freestyle relay team also placed second, with impressive showing from Sean Quinn ’22, Baker and Ed Park ’25.

Gehrig and Ryaan Hatoum ’23 each finished with program fast times in the 100 breaststroke.

13 Bison qualified for Saturday’s finals; Fabian, Gehrig, Kopac, Quinn, Park and Baker.

On the women’s side, important victories came from the two relay teams placing fourth (200 medley and 800 freestyle) and five individual swimmers qualifying in the finals.

Top individual swimmer on the second day was Alexis Faria ’22 with  a time of 54.79 in the 100 butterfly. Faria placed fourth and now holds the second-fastest time for this event in the University program.

Hartigan and Vumbacco had another successful day, gaining points in individual races. Vumbacco placed sixth in the 200 freestyle and Hartigan placed 10th in the 100 butterfly, which were both events the girls do not normally swim in. An impressive individual performance also came from Alexandra Ritorto ’23, who placed 12th in the 100 breaststroke. 

The championships came to an end Sunday Feb. 27. The men’s team took home second place medal and the women respectively placed fourth.

The men’s team finished with a total of 390.5 points. The six second place wins on the third day helped secure the overall silver medal finish. The 400 freestyle relay team, including swimmers DiSanto, Fabian, Gehrig and Kopac, placed second with a time of 2:57.36.

Two relay teams also took home silver medals. The 800 freestyle relay had Quinn, Baker, Kopac and Park. The 400 medley relay team had Baker, Hedges, Fabian and DiSanto.

Five of the 13 Bison who qualified for the finals raced in the ‘A’ finals and three competed in the consolation finals. 

The women’s team had an impressive showing yet again from Hartigan who won gold in the 100 freestyle. Hartigan previously won gold in both the 500 freestyle and 1,650 freestyle in the Patriot League Championship. 

Hartigan also contributed to a bronze medal in the 400 freestyle relay, alongside Vumbacco, Kayla Lichtner ’24 and Kendall Luecke ’25.

The women’s team finished with a total of 264.5 points and had six finals qualifiers. 

Both men’s and women’s teams ended their seasons successfully, placing top five in both the Patriot League Championship and ECAC.