COLLEGE PARK, MD. – The William Paterson men's swimming and diving team tallied 133 points for ninth place after day three of the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship Feb. 17 at the University of Maryland Natatorium.
 
TOP PERFORMERS:

• Sophomore Nicky Byrd (Purchase, N.Y./Harrison) advanced to the 100 back C Final with a 58.70 finish in the preliminary round. In the final, he secured sixth place, clocking a time of 58.87.
• Junior Jason Peralta (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) also advanced to the 100 back C Finals with a 1:16.74 finish. In the final, he posted a time of 1:17.30 for seventh place.
• Pioneers Justin Melli (Erma, N.J./Lower Cape May Regional), Andrew Colligan (Andover, N.J./Sussex County Tech), Brandon Arias (North Haledon, N.J./Passaic County Tech) and Max Russell (Wharton, N.J./Jefferson Twp.) posted an eighth-place finish in the 200 free relay final, recording a time of 1:36.60.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Junior Ricardo Ordinola (Lodi, N.J./Passaic County Tech) posted a personal best in the 100 fly preliminary round (1:01.49). Russell followed by shredding more than seven seconds off his best time (1:05.63).
• Arias (1:55.11), senior Anthony Newman (Lake Hiawatha, N.J./Parsippany) (2:10.59) and junior Peter Usher (Boonton, N.J./Mountain Lakes) (2:31.51) secured personal records in the 200 free preliminary round.
• Freshman Owen Kane (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) cut down his best time by almost five seconds in the 100 breast preliminary round (1:10.50).
• Byrd secured a career-best time in the 100 back preliminary round (58.70).

UP NEXT:

• William Paterson returns to action tomorrow, Feb. 18, at the University of Maryland Natatorium for the final day of the NJAC Championship. Preliminary rounds begin at 9:30 a.m., and finals at 5:30 p.m.

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