RESULTS
MADISON, N.J. (January 18, 2019) - The FDU-Florham men's swim team was clipped by Mount St. Mary (N.Y.) 126-114 Friday evening.
The Devils started the meet off with a second-place finish in the 200-medley relay. The foursome of sophomores Josh Atkins and Eric Bang, junior Michael Illick and senior Nicholas DiBenedetto teamed up for a time of 1:43.18 in the event. Bang stepped up in the 1,000-freestyle and delivered a career-low time of 10:12.5, a mere .44 seconds better than his previous best. In the same event, rookie James Butcher took third place in 12:06.18.
Atkins was victorious in the 200-free, turning in a mark of 1:57.48. Needing a time of 2:01.5 in the same event, freshman Anthony Muschiatti qualified for the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships. Muschiatti tallied a time of 2:01.36. The sophomore Atkins racked up his second top-spot in the afternoon, touching the wall in 1:02.5 in the 100-backstroke. Classmate Juan Melendez registered two points in the event, claiming a time of 1:21.43.
DiBenedetto closed out his dual meet career with second place finishes in the 200-butterfly (2:18.67), 100-fly (1:00.41) and the 200-IM (2:15.12). Illick was second in the 100-breaststroke, turning in a time of 1:08.16 while Muschiatti and classmate Chris Kunka went 2-3 in the 50-free.
Bang led a trio of Devils in the 100-freestyle, as he recorded the top-time of 51.05 with Muschiatti and Kunka finishing third and fifth respectively. Atkins claimed his third first-place time of the day in the 200-backstroke as the sophomore touched the wall in 2:15.79. Illick avenged his second-place time in the 100-breaststroke by winning the 200-breast by just .15 seconds. The junior had a time of 2:29.49. Bang also was first in the 500-free, winning by nearly 48 seconds with freshman James Butcher placing third in 5:48.17.
The team closed out the competition with the 200-freestyle relay. The quarter of Muschiatti, Kunka, Butcher and Melendez placed third, grazing the touch pad in 1:49.98. That time left them just .44 seconds out of second.
UP NEXT
The Devils close out the season with MAC Championship Meet on February 14-17 in York, Pa.
