February 16, 2001

Baltimore, Md. - Sophomore Kelly Pangburn (West Seneca, N.Y.) earned a first place finish in the 500 yard freestyle to help the Siena women's swimming team hold on to fourth place following the first day of competition at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.

After one day of action at the Fitness and Aquatic Center at Loyola College, Rider is in first place on the women's side with 228 points. The Broncs lead defending champion Marist which scored 206 points, followed by Loyola in third with 145 points. Siena totaled 120.50 points and stands in fourth place followed by St. Peter's (115.50), Iona (90), Niagara (78), Fairfield (65), Canisius (62) and Manhattan (32).

The Saints opened up the competition with a third place finish in the 200 yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:42.23. The relay team of Kelly Pangburn, Kathleen Noonan (Pinebush, N.Y.), Martha Kroll (Oxford, Conn.) and Grace Turman (Branford, Conn.) earned 32 points in the first event of the day to give Siena a solid start. Kelly Pangburn's victory in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:04.08 gave the Saints an additional 20 points in the second event of the day. Also adding to Siena's point total in the event was Grace Turman who finished a close second to Pangburn with a time of 5:04.69 to give Siena another 17 points.

Later in the day, Martha Kroll's time of 25.16 in the 50 yard freestyle was good enough for a fourth place finish in the fourth event of competition. In the next event the Saints' relay teams turned in another solid performance with a fourth place finish in the 400 yard medley relay. The team of Martha Kroll, Raina Paul (Toronto, Canada), Kathleen Noonan and Grace Turman posted a time of 4:12.09 to earn a valuable 30 team points.

18 events remain in the MAAC Championships that will continue today and conclude on Saturday, February 17.