PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Maritime men's swimming team had one of its best finishes in recent history at the Metropolitan Championships this past weekend on the campus of Rutgers University, as the Privateers finished in 11th position in the final standings with 202 points.
 
Highlighting the weekend for the Privateers was sophomore Nathanael Marino (Orwigsburg, Pa./Blue Mountain), who qualified for three finals as he made the time for the 200 individual medley, the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breaststroke on the weekend.
 
In addition to Marino reaching the finals; sophomore Ian Folan (Bethel, Conn./Notre Dame) and freshman Matthew Hart (Bayonne, N.J./St. Peter's Prep) also made the finals in the 200 breaststroke on Sunday afternoon. Senior Robert Lewis (Belchertown, Mass./Belchertown) and sophomore Christopher Chilelli (Bordentown, N.J./Bordentown Regional) also reached the finals in the 400 individual medley on Saturday evening.

The Privateers opened the weekend with the 200 freestyle relay that saw Marino, Folan, and juniors Andrew Katz (Greenlawn, N.Y./Glenn-Elwood) and Doug Russell (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) opened with a 1:33.43 before shaving off two one-hundredths of a second for a 1:33.41 in the finals. The team registered 32 points with their 11th place finish.
 
Freshman Stephen Kelleher (Poughquag, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) and sophomore Tristan DeYoung (Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough) set personal bests in the 500 with a 4:58.64, and a 5:27.34 respectively during the first individual event of the day.
 
The 200 Individual Medley was up next, which saw Marino qualify for the finals with a time of 2:04.18. Lewis, Folan, Hart, Chilelli, and rookie Adam Durrua (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Beach) all set personal bests in the event. During the finals in the evening session, Marino was able to cut his time to 2:03.62, but it was not enough to move up as he finished 24th for one point.
 
The 50 freestyle was the last individual event on Friday with Katz, sophomore Spencer Blass (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard), freshman Andrew Moriarty, fellow rookie Nicholas Mastronikolas (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park), senior Sam Dratch (Montgomery, N.Y./Valley Central), DeYoung and sophomore Matthew Crowley (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Somers) all set personal bests during the 50 yard sprint.
 
The final event of the day was the 400 medley relay, which saw Marino, Folan, Durrua, and Russell open up in the preliminary round with a time of 3:51.78. During the finals, the quartet closed out the evening session with a time of 3:52.94, which was good enough for 11th place and an additional 32 points for the Maritime total.
 
Heading into Saturday with 65 points, Maritime began with a 1:44.39 in the 200 medley relay as Marino, Folan, Kelleher and Russell finished 12th in the preliminary round. The foursome later went on to take 13th place in the finals for 28 points with a time of 1:43.96.
 
Individually Lewis opened the day for the Privateers with a personal best in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:40.35. Moriarty followed with a PR in the 100 butterfly after posting a 59.53. Four more Privateers set personal best times in the 200 freestyle as Kelleher, DeYoung, sophomore Jesse Pierce (Broadway, Va./Broadway), and Dratch all recorded times.
 
Marino qualified for his second event in the 100 breaststroke after leading the Privateers in the prelims with a time of 1:01.49. In the evening session he had a 19th place finish with a 1:01.38 as he gave the Privateers an additional six points on the weekend. Hart, junior James Conway (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot), senior Jonathan Low (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale), and Crowley all picked up PRs in the 100 breast preliminaries during the morning session.
 
In the 100 back Katz was an alternate as he was just outside the cut line with a time of 1:00.91, however with no scratches Katz did not get a chance to add to the Maritime point total. Mastronikolas also added a PR in the 100 back prelims with a time of 1:07.84.
 
Saturday concluded with the 800 freestyle relay, which saw Blass, DeYoung, Moriarty and Kelleher notch a top-10 finish with a time of 7:39.59 as the quartet added 34 points to the team score as the Privateers went into the final day of competition with 144 points and in 12th place, just three behind Skyline Conference foe Mount St. Mary.
 
Sunday opened with Moriarty and Chilelli setting PRs in the 200 backstroke, while six Privateers followed with personal bests in the 100 freestyle. Katz, Blass, Durrua, Conway, sophomore Shane Hoey (Bell Harbor, N.Y./St. Francis Prep), and junior Adrian Klein (Palma de Mallorca, Spain/Gilmer Country (W. Va.)) all registered times below 58 seconds with Katz tallying a 52.54 to lead the way.
 
The 200 breaststroke was next as the Privateers had a trio qualify for the finals during the event. Folan led with a 2:20.45, followed by Marino with a 2:20.70, and Hart with a 2:32.43. They later went on to all set PRs during the finals as Marino finished 18th with a 2:18.30, Folan was 20th with a 2:18.42, and Hary took 23rd with a time of 2:30.46.
 
After Pierce finished with a PR in the 200 butterfly with a 2:18.89, the Privateers had several entries in the longest event of the weekend the 1,650 freestyle. In the near-mile event, Kelleher had a strong pace going throughout the event and nearly broke the program record with his time of 17:42.45. The previous record has stood since 1979 as Tim Tisch set the standard with a 17:40.17 in February of that season.  
 
The last event of the weekend was the 400 freestyle relay; Lewis took to the pool for the final time as a Privateer along with Moriarty, Katz, and Russell as the foursome finished in 13th position for 28 points as Maritime edged the Knights of Mount St. Mary by a three-point margin at 202-199.
 
The Rowan Profs took first place with a score of 1,413.5, with the College of New Jersey taking second with a 1,396. The Privateers finished ahead of Mount St. Mary, Baruch, Sarah Lawrence and Lehman, who rounded out the field of 15.
 
Maritime finishes their 2016-17 season with a 9-2 overall record and a 5-1 mark in league swim meets, while the team finished with one of their best finishes in recent history at the Metropolitan Championships. The team will look to use that late-season momentum heading into the 2017-18 campaign next year.