COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's swimming & diving team needed a victory in the final event to complete a comeback from down 19 points and knock off Saint Lawrence University, 116-112, on Sunday in the Ross Sports Center during Senior Day. The Purple Knights are now 2-5, while the Saints slipped to 0-6. The 3-4 Purple and Gold women dropped a 139-84 decision to 5-1 Saint Lawrence.
Saint Michael's trailed by as many as 19 points following the sixth event of the day, the first round of one-meter diving, and was still down by a 106-92 count with only the 200-yard breaststroke and 400-yard freestyle relay remaining. Junior Nathan Paluso (Windham, Maine/Windham) won the 200 breast, while sophomores Nick Johns (Seaford, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) and Sean Faust (Los Angeles, Calf./Loyola) grabbed third and fifth, respectively, and the hosts were down just 112-105.
With Saint Lawrence unable to field four swimmers who could legally score during the 400 free relay, Saint Michael's nabbed 11 points in the event when Paluso, sophomores Brandon MacPherson (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) and Joe Thomas (Norwood, Mass./Boston College HS) and first-year Cam Thirkell (Tyngsboro, Mass./Tyngsboro) claimed victory, also elevating Saint Michael's to the meet triumph.
Paluso also won the 1,000 free, while Thirkell topped the 200-yard butterfly field and notched a second-place showing during the 200-yard individual medley, coming within 0.61 seconds of first place. Thomas was second in both the 100 and 200 free events, while MacPherson took second in the 50 free and third in the 100 free.
Sophomore Chad Phalon (Wantage, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional) won the 500 free and was third in both the 200 IM and 200-yard backstroke, and first-year Sean Glasheen (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) placed second in the 200 fly and third in the 200 free. Classmate Seth Boudreau (Saint Albans, Vt./BFA-Saint Albans) nabbed second in the 200 back, first-years Stephen Andersen (Concord, N.H./Concord) and Riley Faszewski (Hooksett, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) were third in the 50 free and 500 free, respectively, and junior Joe Vo (Springfield, Mass./Cathedral) took third in one of the one-meter diving events.
During the 400-yard medley relay, Boudreau, Glasheen and Johns joined first-year Ryan Butler (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) to claim second, while Andersen, Faszewski, Faust and Vo took third.
First-year Lindsay McNall (Colchester, Vt./Colchester) played a role in three of the Purple Knight women's four wins, capturing the 200 back and 200 IM while swimming with senior Julie Mullowney (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) and juniors Kim Brady (Morris Township, N.J./Academy of Saint Elizabeth) and Steph Nadow (Charlton, Mass./Saint Peter-Marian) for the top 400 medley relay.
Brady had a hand in a second victory, swimming for the winning 400 free relay by siding with sophomore Luci Franklin (Steamboat Springs, Colo./Lowell Whiteman School) and first-years Catherine Morse (Hope, R.I./Saint Mary Academy-Bay View) and Katrina Wiesner (Bow, N.H./Bow). Mullowney touched the wall as the runner-up in both the 50 free and 200 breast, Nadow was second in the 200 back, and Wiesner took second in the 100 free. Sophomore Catherine Tierney (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) placed second in the 1,000 free and third in the 500 free, while senior Grace Kahn (Fairhope, Ala./Bayside Academy) captured third in the 200 fly.
Prior to the meet, six Purple Knights were honored during a Senior Day ceremony on the day of their final home competition: Jack Mulderrig (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) of the men's team, and Kahn, Mullowney, Jill Connors (Dedham, Mass./Archbishop Williams), Maddie Craig (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) and Emily Dieter (Saint Charles, Ill./Saint Charles North) of the women's squad.
The Purple Knights complete their dual meet schedule on Saturday at the State University of New York at Potsdam at 1 p.m.
