KINGS POINT, N.Y. – Women's swimming closed out the Skyline Championship meet in third place yesterday, with a total of 285 points. The Knights finished behind Sarah Lawrence College in second with 395 points, the United States Merchant Marine Academy in first with 620, and ahead of St. Joseph's University Long Island in fourth (213) and SUNY Maritime in fifth (127). The two-day competition, hosted by USMMA, was filled with personal best times and record-breaking performances.


Senior Antonia Licardi earned three first-place finishes, and took down two Mount Saint Mary College records in the process. On Friday afternoon, she broke the 50-yard freestyle record, winning the event—and setting a new Skyline record — with a time of 24.88. The record was set last year, by Mount senior Cayla Nicholas at 24.94. Licardi then set a new 100-yard freestyle record yesterday, which stood at 55.36 since 2018, set by Kyra McNamee. Licardi's swim dropped it down to 54.21.


Licardi's wins in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle (54.21) and the 200-yard freestyle (2:01.57) landed her All-Conference First Team honors. All were thrilling races, with Licardi just touching out competitors in the final few yards. She also earned All-Conference Second Team honors, with her second place finish in the 500-yard freestyle at a time of 5:41.39.

Nicholas earned All-Conference Second Team honors as well, placing second in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:42.81.


The team of Licardi, Stefanie Sommer , Nicholas and Angelina Mainiero picked up All-Conference First Team honors as well, in the 200-yard medley relay at 2:01.43, and All-Conference Second Team honors in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:45.06.


Another highlight for the Knights included Sommer's winning of the Elite 19 Award. This award is given to the athlete with the highest cumulative GPA in the Skyline Conference. As a secondary math education major, Sommer has maintained a GPA of 4.0, making this her second consecutive season to win this honor.

Finally, the meet was rounded out with another major award for the program. For the second consecutive year, Head Coach Chris Mance was named Coach of the Year for women's swimming.
 

Day One Recap
The Knights were off and running in the first session of the championship, leaving with 100% personal best times on Friday afternoon. They capitalized on strong finishes to win close races across throughout the session.


Mainiero took fourth place in the 500-yard freestyle, at a time of 6:14.98, followed by Sommer in fifth with 6:15.18. Sophomore Kate Cerven also swam the 500, coming in 11th place (7:06.13) in a major time drop.


In the 50-yard freestyle, Nicholas took sixth at 25.89, followed by Cerven in 18th (28.87) and sophomore Sarah Zellner in 25th (35.50).


Day Two Recap
Day two comprised of two sessions, both showcasing thrilling races and strong swims for the Knights.


The first session kicked off with a third place finish by the 400-yard medley team of Sommer, Mainiero, Nicholas and Licardi (4:33.60).


Nicholas took fourth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:07.42.


Mainiero and Cerven represented in the 200-yard freestyle, coming in eighth (2:13.01) and 11th (2:28.71), respectively.


Sommer took 7th place in the 100-yard backstroke, hitting the wall at 1:10.65. Zellner followed in 14th place (1:36.30).


Mainiero had another fourth place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle, coming in at 12:31.46. Sommer came in sixth, at 12:50.05. Mainiero and Sommer had significant improvements in their times.


Up next, Mainiero placed fifth in her 200-yard backstroke (2:35.30), followed by Sommer in eighth (2:41.06).


Nicholas picked up sixth place in the 100-yard freestyle, at 58.13. Cerven took 10th place with 1:04.03.


Lastly, Mainiero, Cerven, Licardi and Nicholas teamed up for a third place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 4:02.02 to close out the meet.


Looking ahead, Women's Swimming will prepare for the Metropolitan Conference Championship meet, which will be held at Rutgers University from Feb. 12-15.
 

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