Photo by: Frank Poulin
Photo by: Frank Poulin
Posted: Feb 14, 2019

Ornelas shatters meet record; Bulldogs in second

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – Graduate student Micah Ornelas (San Diego, Calif.) set a meet record and qualified for the NCAA 'B' cut as the Bryant University men's swimming and diving team remained in second place after day two of the 2019 MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships at Erie Community College.  

Bryant has scored 230 points over the first two days, just 22 behind Rider.

Coach Cameron's Comments

"Great night for the men. Congrats to Micah on his new conference record. I love where we are at with points - 39 more points than this point last year - and pumped we are in second place. Keep it going Bulldogs!"

Day Two Highlights

  • Swimming in his first individual event at the MAAC Championships, Ornelas wasted little time leaving his mark. He won the 200 IM with a time of 1:46.58, nearly a second faster than the old MAAC record and two seconds faster than the previous school record.
  • The Bulldogs dominated the event, with Matthew Mays (St. Croix, Virgin Islands) finishing third and Tavish Boyle (Springfield, N.J.) finishing fifth. Mays posted a time of 1:50.99 and Boyle posted a time of 1:52.09.
  • Bryant closed the meet by earning a silver medal and setting a school record in the 200 free relay. Ornelas opened the relay, Andrew Allen (Bedford, N.H.) was second, Mays was third and Matt Zichelli (Glen Ridge, N.J.) closed out the relay. The quartet posted a time of 1:21.56.  

Other Highlights

  • Robert Davis (Glastonbury, Conn.) swam to a fourth-place finish in the 500 free with a time of 4:32.22.
  • Zichelli added a seventh-place finish in the 50 free with a time of 21.16.
  • Allen also finaled in the event, finishing 14th.  

Notes and Notables

  • Ornelas broke Ben Schulte's program record in the 200 IM. It had stood since the 2015 season.
  • The Bulldogs have now won four medals in the first two days.
  • Ornelas has two gold medals and three total medals so far.  

Up Next

Day three of the 2019 MAAC Swimming and Diving Championships gets underway on Friday with preliminary heats beginning at 10:00 a.m.