WORCESTER, Mass. — The Roger Williams University Women's Swimming team wrapped up competition at day two of the Menck Invitational on Saturday at WPI with several strong individual and relay performances against WPI and Amherst.
Shae Gonzales (Pottstown, Pa.) secured a first-place finish for the Hawks in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.73. Followed closely by Avery Benigni (Meriden, Conn.), who finished second with a time of 25.77.
Gonzales took another first-place finish in the 25-yard backstroke with a time of 14.18, and following closely by Kendall Noonan (Southington, Conn.) who took second in 14.29.
Turning to the relays, the 200-yard freestyle relay saw the squad of Gonzales, Benigni, AvaGrace Zettler (Allendale, N.J.), and Claire Dombrofski (West Hartford, Conn.) lead the Hawks and take third with a time of 1:42.50.
In the 100-yard medley relay, the Hawks four seniors took to the pool where Victoria Fahey (Scituate, Mass.), Brooke Irons (Cranston, R.I.), Benigni, and Fionna Cashman (Bath, Maine) took fifth with a time of 56.06.
In the 400-yard individual medley, Zettler took third for the Hawks and finished in 4:57.08.
Allison Slater (East Chatham, N.Y.) finished sixth for the Hawks in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:26.17. Dombrofski took the top spot for the Hawks in the 100-yard individual medley, capturing fourth place with a time of 1:04.99.
For breaststroke events, Amanda Riley (Ludlow, Mass.) posted a sixth-place finish in the 25-yard breaststroke and a ninth-place finish in the 50-yard breaststroke with times of 15.19 and 33.32 respectively. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Mattia McIntyre (Norton, Mass.) secured a fourth-place finish for the Hawks with a time of 1:11.53. McIntyre was back in the pool for the 200-yard breaststroke and took fifth with a time of 2:36.06.
In the 25-yard butterfly, Benigni was back in the pool for the Hawks and took second place with a time of 12.63. Dombrofski returned for the 50-yard butterfly and took seventh with a time of 28.10.
Continuing the butterfly events, Lauren Clark (Trumbull, Conn.) took third in the 200-yard butterfly and led the Hawks with a time of 2:28.01. Zettler was back in the pool and posted a fifth-place finish for Roger Williams in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:03.30.
Turning to backstroke events, Gonzales took second for the Hawks in the 50-yard backstroke, finishing in 29.08. Noonan was the top finisher for the Hawks in the 100-yard Backstroke and took sixth with a time of 1:06.41. Gonzales swam again in the 200-yard backstroke and captured fourth with a time of 2:13.43.
Benigni continued her day with a fifth-place finish in the 25-yard freestyle with a time of 12.44. Benigni paced Roger Williams in the 100-yard freestyle, earning the top RWU finish with a sixth-place time of 58.67.
In the 200-yard freestyle, the Hawks' top finisher was Clark coming in sixth with a time of 2:04.62. Kallie Fournier (Berkley, Mass.) led RWU in the 500-yard freestyle, placing third overall with a time of 5:41.91.
Rounding out the meet for the Hawks, the team of Gonzales, McIntyre, Benigni, and Dombrofski finished fourth in the 200-yard medley relay, posting a time of 1:54.09.
The Hawks will turn their focus to the end of the month, where on Saturday, Jan. 31 they will head to Coast Guard to compete against the Bears and Montclair State.
