The Bison men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Indianapolis, Md. to compete in the ECAC Championships from Feb. 28 to Mar. 1. Both teams placed well, with the men finishing in 5th place out of 23 teams and the women securing 2nd place out of 25 teams.

“ECACs is an optional secondary championship competition we attend,” Sam Miller ’22 said. “We were blessed with an incredibly motivated team that decided to continue to ECACs after Patriots this year. It showed how hungry our team is for success.”

The Bison women earned two medals on the first day. Maggie Wyngowski ’21 earned a silver medal in the 500 freestyle and Alaina Schumann ’21 earned bronze in the 3-meter dive. Wyngowski’s finish was even more impressive as she had only competed in the 500 freestyle two times prior to this competition. Just narrowly missing a medal spot was the 200 freestyle team composed of Rachel Hazard ’21, Emily Gorham ’21, Emma Hadley ’20, and 2020 All-Patriot League First Team member Maddie Hartigan ’22, who finished fourth. The women finished the day with 95 points and a 4th place standing.

On day one, the men scored 88 team points on their way to a 5th place finish on the day. Matt McGoey ’20 had a great individual day for the Orange and Blue. The senior finished runner-up in the 200 IM and then teamed up with Leo Kuyl ’23, Liam Pitt ’22 and Derek Knight ’22 to finish in 4th place in the 200 freestyle relay. The team earned a time of 1:22:51, which places them in 10th place in school history.

On the second day of the competition, the Bison women were able to surge into 2nd place by earning 207 points. The Orange and Blue earned four medals on the day, along with several other performances where individuals narrowly missed the podium. Alexis Faria ’22 won gold in the 100M butterfly with a time of 55.02, the third-fastest in school history. Hartigan and Sabrina Vumbacco ’23 also had stellar days, both finishing with silver medals. Hartigan came in second in the 100M butterfly less than a second after Faria ( 55.42). Vumbacco placed 2nd in the 200 freestyle with the 6th fastest time in school history. The quartet of Hadley, Jacqueline Rounsavill ’23, Hazard, and Sophia Donati ’23 earned the Orange and Blue’s final medal of the day when they placed 3rd in the 200 medley relay.

The men were able to maintain their standing of 5th place on Feb. 29 by scoring 90 points on the day, including two relay squads finishing in 5th place. The 200 medley was composed of Miller, Ryaan Hatoum ’23, Pitt and Matt Mills ’23 while the 800 freestyle relay team had Nate Romanowski ’21, McGoey, Carter Weiland ’22, and Alan Flower ’23. Pitt also finished in 6th place in the 100M butterfly and set the second-fastest time in school history in the prelim (49.13).

The women’s team was able to clinch second place on the final day of the competition with a pair of gold medals. Hartigan claimed the gold medal in the 100 freestyle and then was part of the 400 freestyle team that also won gold along with Vumbacco, Gorham, and Donati. These wins capped off a historic season for the team in which they placed 2nd at the Patriot League Championships and held a dual meet record of 10-1. Additionally, they finished with double-digit wins for only the 6th time in program history.

The Bison men clinched their 5th place finish on the final day of the competition, finishing with a score of 246 points. McGoey continued his excellent stretch, earning a silver medal in the 200IM. The 400 freestyle team of McGoey, Romanowski, Pitt, and Knight came extremely close to earning a medal, but finished in a close 4th place. Kevin Flynn ’21 also finished his season strong, earning 8th place in the 200 backstroke in the “A” finals. With a 5-6 (4-4 PL) record and a 4th place finish at the Patriot League Championships, the men’s swimming and diving team enjoyed a successful season which they will look to improve upon come next season.

“Next year we are practically going to be fully rostered in both the men’s and women’s teams. While we lose some incredible talent from this senior class, we will have plenty of team members stepping up to fill those gaps,” Miller said. “I am excited for the incredible depth the incoming class will bring as we fill in our weaker events with new stars.”