Kowal Lands All-League Finish, Highlights Four Records at NE10 Championship

WORCESTER, Mass. - Junior Rafael Kowal (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh/Alfred State) earned all-conference in the 500-yard freestyle for the second straight year on Friday and highlighted four school records set by the Saint Michael's College men's and women's swimming & diving teams during the second day of the four-day Northeast-10 Conference Championship at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Sports & Recreation Center.

STANDINGS

The Purple Knight men stand fourth among seven schools with 187 points, holding off the College of Staten Island by 28.
The women are seventh out of eight with 114 points, only 25 away from fifth-place Pace University.

MEN'S MEET
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

Junior Rafael Kowal (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh/Alfred State), 1 all-conference finish, 2 school records
Senior Thomas Kane (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional), 2 school records
First-year Lucas Haynes (Holliston, Mass./Holliston), 2 school records
Senior Will Englehardt (Sparta, N.J./Sparta), 1 school record
Junior Connor Quirbach (Lowell, Mass./Chelmsford), 1 school record
Sophomore JJ Kane (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional), 1 school record

THE ACTION

Kowal placed second in the 500-yard freestyle for the second straight year, claiming his second career NE10 All-Conference second team nod and fourth career all-league placement between two schools. He joins Connor Hopkins '20 (4) and Quirbach (2) as the lone multi-time NE10 All-Conference men's swimmers in program history. Kowal clocked in at 4:38.56 in the finals, dropping 4.85 seconds from his morning prelim time to eclipse a school record Haynes set back on Nov. 22 (4:39.27). Haynes was fourth in the event (4:42.54) and Quirbach took 14th (4:57.30). Sophomore Cal Baird (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) placed 17th in the trials, missing qualifying for evening finals by one spot.
Englehardt, Haynes, Quirbach and Thomas Kane finished fourth in the 200 free relay (1:25.45), tying a school record for placement by a relay at NE10s while trimming a two-year-old program mark by 0.05 seconds. Englehardt, Haynes and Thomas Kane had also been part of that record-setting foursome.
The Purple Knights' 400-yard medley relay quartet of Haynes, Kowal and the Kane brothers broke another record during a fifth-place performance (3:30.89), eclipsing a standard set on Nov. 22 by 1.8 seconds.
In the 50 free, Thomas Kane took fourth place (21.06), coming within 0.21 seconds of an all-conference finish, and Englehardt was eighth (21.56), improving upon his original seed in the event by six spots.
Junior Sebastian Revesz (Bedford, Mass./Bedford) captured eighth in the one-meter diving, scoring 235.85 points in the prelims before netting 232.70 points in finals.
Sophomore Hunter Daily (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) placed 15th in the 200-yard individual medley (2:00.43).
Saint Michael's had a second foursome place fourth during a 200 free relay heat, with the B quartet taking 12th overall (1:29.35). JJ Kane, senior Timmy Voelker (Stockholm, N.J./Wallkill Valley Regional) and juniors Ryan McCaffrey (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/George Washington) and Alex Meek (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) swam legs.

WOMEN'S MEET
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

Sophomore Ashley Meade (Belle Harbor, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy), 1 school record
Sophomore Hannah Steen (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth), 1 school record
First-year Sydney McSweeney (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley), 1 school record
First-year Mary Mongelli (Rockville, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross), 1 school record

THE ACTION

McSweeney, Meade, Mongelli and Steen combined to break the Purple Knight women's team's longest-standing relay record, trimming a 13-year-old 200 free relay mark by 0.35 seconds during a seventh-place performance (1:40.37).
McSweeney, Steen and seniors Jessie Hart (Canton, Mass./Canton) and Margaret Wilk (Hardyston, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional) combined to take seventh in the 400 medley relay (4:06.62).
The Purple Knights' B 400 medley relay foursome took fourth in its heat and 12th overall (4:17.49), with Meade, Mongelli and sophomores Madeline Waldt (Abingdon, Md./The Catholic High School of Baltimore) and Ayden Walsh (Tallahassee, Fla./Creekside) swimming legs.
Waldt placed 12th in the 500 free (5:22.82), while junior Riley Beaudoin (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable Regional) missed qualifying for finals by just one spot after taking 17th in trials.
Wilk claimed 15th in the 200 IM (2:17.23), followed by Walsh in 16th (2:23.61).
Steen placed 15th in the 50 free (25.42).