THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – It was an historic night inside Riesenberg Aquatic Center on Thursday evening as the Maritime men's and women's swimming and diving teams hosted the Queens Knights and the York (N.Y.) Cardinals in a non-conference tri-meet.
 
For the second consecutive season, the women's program set a new single-season standard for wins as the team knocked off York by a convincing 163-36 score. In addition, the Privateers also took on Division II Queens and fell by a slim margin at 117-106.
 
The men's team needed the last even to pick up the win over Queens as the Privateers edged the Knights by a 115-102 score. The men's squad also picked up the win against York by a 176-37 differential to give Maritime nine wins on the season. The nine victories are the second-most wins in a single campaign, one shy of last season's 10-win mark.
 
The Maritime men opened the meet with a second place finish against Queens with a time of 1:44.41 as junior Doug Russell (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot), sophomores Kevin Wu (Flushing, N.Y./Francis Lewis) and Nathanael Marino (Orwigsburg, Pa./Blue Mountain) and freshman Edwin Moriarty (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran) began the night for the Privateers. The second Privateer entry finished with a 1:56.01, as the quartet was comprised of senior Charles Schnebel (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville), junior James Conway (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) and sophomores Francis Horne (Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria), and Logan Riales (Bonham, Texas/Maury (Va.)).
 
Senior Robert Lewis (Belchertown, Mass./Belchertown) and junior Luke Doherty (Chadds Ford, Pa./Unionville) picked up key points early for Maritime with a top-two finish as Lewis posted a 11:31.73, while Doherty finished at 12:22.19. Freshman Stephen Kelleher (Poughquag, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) and Moriarty were the two participants in the 200 freestyle and clocked in with times of 1:54.98, and 1:58.02 respectively.
 
In the 50 yard freestyle sprint, Wu notched a 22.78, as senior Sam Dratch (Montgomery, N.Y./Valley Central) was close behind with a 24.64. Senior Jonathan Murray (Long Beach, N.Y./Kellenberg) was Maritime's top finisher in the 200 individual medley with a 2:22.13, followed by freshman Matthew Hart (Bayonne, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) with a 2:26.65.
 
In the final diving event for the Privateers, senior Ryan Wood (Sparta, N.J./Blair Academy) opened the scoring for the Privateers with a six-dive score of 170.60. Senior John Brown (Keystone Heights, Fla./Keystone Heights) was second with a 159.95, followed by sophomore Kurt Schieferstein (Lattingtown, N.Y./Chaminade) with a 138.80, while junior Vincent Maltese (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) rounded out the scoring with a 111.80 during the six-dive round.
 
The five-dive round saw Wood tally a 124.75 from one meter, as the senior capped off his career with the Privateers in the final diving event of the season. Wood was the only diver during the five-dive round.
 
As swimming action resumed, Lewis posted a sub-minute time in the 100 butterfly with a 59.01, to break his personal-best time by .09 seconds. Schnebel was next for Maritime with a 1:04.16 in the fly. Russell came close to his personal best in the 100 freestyle, as he registered a 51.56; classmate Andrew Katz (Greenlawn, N.Y./Glenn-Elwood) clocked in at 54.34. Sophomore Christopher Chilelli (Bordentown, N.J./Bordentown Regional) was the top Privateer to finish in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:03.47, a new personal record; fellow sophomore Lillo Rubino (Islip Terrace, N.Y./Central Islip) collected a 1:05.74 during the event.
 
Kelleher collected a time of 5:24.05 in the 500 freestyle as he paced the pool during the event. Sophomore Tristan DeYoung (Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough) was second to the wall with a 5:48.17 as the pair combined to take the top two positions. The men's team closed the gap and tied the meet with Queens as Marino and freshman Ian Folan (Bethel, Conn./Notre Dame) took second and third, as Queens finished first.
 
It came down to the final event of the night to decide it for the Privateers in their head-to-head with the Knights. Katz and Murray along with sophomores Spencer Blass (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) and Jesse Pierce (Broadway, Va./Broadway) notched the win with a first place finish in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:36.76. The quartet of Russell, Kelleher, Marino and Wu were just a half-second behind with a 1:37.26.
 
The women's team saw junior Sarah Soulagnet (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Homeschooled) open the night with sophomores Emily Zink (Brockport, N.Y./Brockport) and Katia Aaron (Clarence, N.Y./Clarence) as well as freshman Katherine Green (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) with a time of 1:57.08 in the medley relay. The second relay squad for the Privateers saw junior Jessica Yee (Freehold, N.J./Freehold) team up with freshmen Maura Neely (Towson, Md./Maryvale Prep), Gabrielle Thompson (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) and Bethany Champlin (Bronx, N.Y./Saint Vincent) for a time of 2:08.66.
 
Aaron was in the pool in the next event as she coasted to a first place finish in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 12:34.81; senior Ashley O'Brien (Queens, N.Y./Mary Louis Academy) was second to finish with a time of 14:16.69. Sophomore Erica Davis (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) was the top Privateer finisher in the 200 freestyle with a 2:34.42, followed by Neely with a 2:59.88.
 
Soulagnet led Maritime in the 50 freestyle with a 27.85, followed by senior Danielle Leahy (Cocoa Beach, Fla./Cocoa Beach) with a 28.94. Green looked to break her program-record time in the 200 individual medley but settled for the second-best time in program history behind her own as she scored a 2:25.76 in the medley; Aaron was second with a 2:38.87.
 
Diving competition opened for the women and saw freshman Macy Blakeley (Falls Church, Va./George C. Marshall) score a six-dive round score of 143.70. Junior Alexandra Schnabel (Lindenhurst, N.Y./St. Anthony's) collected a six-dive round score of 125.45, and later went on to add a score of 112.05 in the five-dive round for an 11-dive total of 237.50.
 
Zink and Thompson opened up swimming action again as Zink scored a 1:13.08, followed by Thompson with a 1:21.92. In the 100 freestyle, Green notched a 59.11 as she once again looked to break her existing program record that she set earlier this season in December. Leahy was second with a 1:05.14 during the 100 freestyle. Zink was the top finisher in the backstroke with a 1:18.53; Yee also posted a 1:31.54.
 
In the women's 500 freestyle, Soulagnet paced the field with a 6:22.90, while Davis was second to finish with a time of 6:52.71. During the final singles event of the night, Neely posted a 1:34.40 in the 100 breaststroke, while O'Brien registered a 1:37.29.
 
O'Brien followed up her breaststroke time with a strong showing in the freestyle relay in the opening leg as she led the field with a 32.25 split time. O'Brien teamed up with Davis, Thompson and Leahy to finish the night with a combined time of 2:00.29. Maritime's second relay entry saw juniors Abigail Granit (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township) and Gabrielle Kempski (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) pair with Champlin and sophomore Megan Alicea (Copake, N.Y./Taconic Hills) to record a 2:12.79.
 
With the conclusion of Thursday's meet, the Maritime men's team now holds a 9-1 overall record with a 5-1 mark in Skyline meets. The men's team will be back in action next Friday and Saturday, January 27-28 at the Skyline Conference Championship meet hosted by Purchase College.
 
The women's team currently stands at 6-6 overall and 4-4 in Skyline meets, with one more to go as Maritime will host the Mount St. Vincent Dolphins on Monday evening at 6 p.m. from the Riesenberg Aquatic Center.