Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Swimming team led wire-to-wire on Friday in its season opener against Bard, scoring an impressive 78-36 victory over the visiting Raptors. Joseph Tagliareni (Hackettstown, N.J.) picked up a pair of victories to lead the Knights.
 
Mount Saint Mary got off to a fast start on Friday, scoring a victory in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Tagliareni, William Kara (White Plains, N.Y.), Jackson Lerner (Bayside, N.Y.) and Atticus Salazar (Queens, N.Y.) swam to a time of 2:04.86 to open the night.
 
Tagliareni went on to score victories for the Knights in both the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke. His initial win of the night came in a time of 50.38 seconds before he bested the field in the breaststroke race in 1:13.69.
 
Lerner finished off a strong opening meet for the Mount with a victory in the 50-yard freestyle and a runner-up finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Lerner's victory came in a time of 24.24 seconds before swimming a time of 1:00.18 in the butterfly event.
 
Tyler Williams (Middlebury, Conn.) also turned in a strong meet for the Mount, posting a victory in the 200-yard freestyle and runner-up finishes in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke. Williams touched out first in the freestyle race in 2:15.58 and added runner-up times of 2:34.47 and 1:08.83, respectively.
 
Salazar added a second place finish for the Knights in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:42.43 with Kara scoring second place points in both the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke. Christopher Astacio (Bronx, N.Y.) opened his collegiate career with a second place showing in the 50-yard freestyle for the Knights.
 
At 1-0 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary returns to action on November 5 when it takes on the College of Staten Island and Sarah Lawrence.