Feb. 17, 2011
Day One Results 
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Brennan Morris and Scott Heil finished first and second in the men's 500-yard freestyle, and Morris set a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference record in the preliminary heat of the event, helping Loyola University Maryland take a 13-point lead after the first day of the 2011 MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships at the Burt Flickinger Center.
The Greyhounds, who are the two-time defending MAAC Champions on the men's side, have 209 points, 13 ahead of second-place Rider and 45 in front of third-place Marist.
Loyola's women also had a strong day, led by Courtney Trivino's victory in the 200-yard individual medley, and sit in third place after the first day of the competition. Marist leads the women's race with 247 points, followed by Rider and the Greyhounds with 171.5 and 145, respectively.
Morris broke his own MAAC record in the 500-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 4:26.51 in the morning session, eclipsing his previous mark of 4:28.74. Heil was also under the previous record, clocking a preliminary time of 4:28.48.
The duo then finished one-two in the evening's final, touching the wall in 4:26.70 and 4:31.07, respectively, to score a combined 37 points for Loyola.
Morris' preliminary time is also an NCAA Championships `B' Qualifying Mark, meaning he will be in the mix to advance to next month's Championships.
Moments earlier, Loyola won the first final of the men's competition, the 200-yard freestyle relay. Jeffrey Rowe, Ozzy Torres, Ryan Leonard and Sam McQuaid swam 1:22.60 to win the event ahead of Marist's 1:23.08.
Just before that, the Greyhound women took second in the same event. Lauren Mari, Mary Henkels, Caitlin Cassidy and Caitlin Cronin finished in 1:36.43, just being edged by Marist in 1:35.39.
Following Morris's 500 freestyle victory, Trivino took top honors for the second-consecutive year in the 200 individual medley. She finished in 2:06.40, holding off Rider's Alicia Fimple by 0.12 seconds.
Jacob Drannan and Colin Chenet finished fourth and eighth, respectively in the men's 200 IM in 1:52.57 and 2:01.01.
In the women's 50-yard freestyle, Cronin and Mari placed fourth and sixth with times of 24.12 and 24.26, while Torres and Rowe took second and third in the men's 50 free in 20.99 and 21.02.
The Greyhounds tallied seven points in the women's 1-meter diving competition, as Elizabeth Mixa placed 12th with 173.90, and Candace Rooney was 15th with 143.55. In men's diving. Michael Brown picked up seven points with 195.05 points and a 10th-place finish in the 3-meter competition.
Loyola's men closed the night the same way they opened it, with a relay victory. McQuaid, Chenet, Torres and Heil combined to swim a time of 3:20.92 to win the 400-yard medley relay.
The women's 400 medley relay team - Henkels, Courtney Chenet, Cassidy and Cronin - placed third in 3:53.31.
The MAAC also announced the 2010-2011 MAAC All-Academic Team. Sixteen women from Loyola were named to the team: Caitlin Cassidy, Kathleen ¬¬Del Duca, Micaela Dumm, Kelly Hurley, Madeleine Joyal, Kelly Mallucio, Meaghan McCotter, Casey McCusker, Carissa McStay, Morgan Munnelly, Lisa Murawski, Kaitlin Pisano, Nicole Romano, Virginia Sabens, Abby Weise and Caitlin Winkler. Additionally, three men from Loyola were honored: Tony Florida, William Jackson and Torres.
The Championships continue on Friday in Buffalo with preliminaries in the morning and finals in the evening.
