NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Albertus Magnus College women's swimming & diving team hosted its first Falcon Invitational, featuring the University of Saint Joseph (CT), Elms College, and Saint Joseph's College of Maine, on Saturday afternoon inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.

The Falcons earned a pair of dual-match victories against the Blazers (171-33) and Monks (115-110), claiming the program's first-ever wins against the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponents. The Falcons did however come up short against the Blue Jays (145-110). 

THE BASICS
Teams Competed: Albertus Magnus College | University of Saint Joseph (CT) | Saint Joseph's College of Maine | Elms College
Location: Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center Swimming Pool | New Haven, Conn. 

DUAL MEET SCORES
Men
USJ (CT) 183 | SJC (ME) 60
USJ (CT) 195 | Elms 11
SJC (ME) 115 | Elms 22

Women
USJ (CT) 122 | SJC (ME) 103
USJ (CT) 167 | Elms 31
USJ (CT) 145 | Albertus 101
SJC (ME) 130 | Elms 19
Albertus 115 | SJC (ME) 110
Albertus 171 | Elms 33

COACH PALLONE'S THOUGHTS
 "The girls showed resilience, grit, and a tremendous competitive fire in today's meet," said Coach Pallone. "This is the first time in program history that we have beaten conference opponents Elms and Saint Joseph's Maine and that is a testament to the months of hard work and training that the girls have put in. The improvement that the girls have shown from last year to this year has been astounding and I couldn't be prouder of them. As a program, we still have work to do, but I am extremely proud of the progress and improvement that our girls have made"  

TOP PERFORMERS IN EACH EVENT

• 200 Yard Medley Relay 
  • The quartet of Sabrinna Accioly (West Haven, Conn.), Maria Estrada (Guatemala City, Guatemala), Chloe Oliver (Milford, Conn.), and Ana Lucia Gutierrez-Gomez (Hermosillo, Mexico) finished with a time of 2:12.03 
• 1000 Yard Freestyle
  • Olivia Bender (Hamilton, Oh.) claimed first place with a time of 13:07.90. 
• 200 Yard Freestyle
  • Accioly came in second place behind a time of 2:21.84
  • Chisunta Chikwamu (Lusaka City, Zambia) finished sixth with a time of 3:44.93
• 50 Yard Backstroke
  • Estrada finished with a time of 55.82.
  • Yazlene Perez (New Haven, Conn.), finished with a time of 56.68.
  • Oliver finished with a time of 1:19.76.
• 50 Yard Breaststroke
  • Arle Cruceta-Garcia (Salcedo, Dominican Republic) had a time of 58.92.
• 200 Yard Butterfly
  • Oliver finished with a time of 3:14.35 in her second appearance of the night. 
• 50 Yard Freestyle
  • Gutierrez-Gomez finished first with a time of 26.00. 
• 100 Yard Freestyle 
  • Gutierrez-Gomez finished first with a time of 56.69. 
• 200 Yard Backstroke
  • Trista Caron (Naugatuck, Conn.) finished with a final time of 2:49:89. 
• 200 Yard Breaststroke
  • Estrada finished the event with a time of 3:03:80.  
• 500 Yard Freestyle: 
  • Bender finished in third place with a time of 6:23:00. 
  • Camila Gordillo (Stratford, Conn.) finished with a time of 8:20:41. 
• 50 Yard Butterfly
  • Oliver took fourth place in the event with a final time of 0:33:10.
  • Caron followed close behind in fifth place with a time of 0:33:81.  
• 200 Yard Individual Medley
  • Estrada finished the event with a time of 2:37.26.  
• 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
  • The foursome of Accioly, Estrada, Oliver and Gutierrez Gomez finished with a time of 1:55.93

UP NEXT
The women's swimming & diving team will return to the pool on Friday, Nov. 12 with a road dual-match against Colby-Sawyer College. The meet is scheduled for 5 PM.