SMI SPORTS/COLLEGE   October 23, 2015

INEW YORK(SMI-WIRE,10.23.15) The LIU Brooklyn women's swimming team defeated Manhattan in its first-ever home meet, and second dual meet of the season. The Blackbirds hosted the Jaspers in the Steinberg Wellness Center on Friday night, winning 147-107 to improve to 2-0 on the year. 
The Blackbirds earned 15 points to begin the meet, with both a first and second-place finish in the 400 medley relay. Nathalie Meyers, Milly Furneaux, Danielle Jefferies and Oleksandra Kashyrina won the race, finishing the relay with a time of 3:58.07. Mads Carrigan, Emily Cabral, Taylor Snelson and Natalie De Gante were able to snag second place, combining for a time of 4:21.48. LIU also posted the best time (1:40.01) in the 200 freestyle relay to close out the meet with Blackbird swimmers Meyers, Briana Vega, Katelyn Coleman and Kashyrina. 
Eight Blackbirds, Funeaux, Meyers, Dziewa, Jefferies, Vega, Coleman, Kashyrina, and Carrigan were all individual first-place winners Friday night. LIU bettered its performance from last week, when it had six individual winners against the Pioneers. 
For the third weekend in a row, Furneaux was the winner of both the 100 and 200 breastroke. The freshman won both races at both Sacred Heart and the Colgate Fall Classic. Furneaux's finished the 100 in 1:06.05 and the 200 in 2:27.63, both personal-bests. LIU had a one-two finish in both the 100 and 200 breast races, when Carrigan placed second in both, posting a time of 1:08.86 and 2:30.38, respectively. 
Meyers first-place finishes came in the 100 and 200 backstroke, after posting a time of 1:00.61 and 2:10.04, respectively. Meyers won both the 100 and 200 back last weekend at Sacred Heart. Cabral finished third in both the 100 and 200 back, while De Gante also finished fifth in both races. 
Aleksandra Dziewa earned nine points for the Blackbirds early on in the meet, after winning the 1000 freestyle race. This was Dziewa's first 1000 free-win as a Blackbird, while also posting a personal-best time of 11:06.35. 
Jefferies nine points came after winning the 200 butterfly title with a time of 2:10.67. The freshman shed nearly five seconds off her 200 fly-time, after winning the same race last weekend at Sacred Heart. Snelson gave the Blackbirds a one-two finish in the 200 fly, posting a time of 2:23.38. 
Vega earned her first individual-win as a Blackbird in the 50 free. The freshman earned nine points after posting a time of 24.77. Kashyrina, who has won the 50 free the past two weekends, finished in second with a time of 24.85. Vega and Kashyrina combined to earned 13 points for the Blackbirds. 
Coleman also earned her first career individual-win, after finishing first in the 100 free. Coleman touched with a time of 55.61. Vega was right on her tail, posting a time of 55.61, good for second. Snelson gave the Blackbirds a one-two-three finish, after touching third with a time of 59.64. 
The Blackbirds earned a one-two-three finish in the 100 butterfly. Kashyrina, the reigning NEC Rookie of the Week, earned first place after finishing with a time of 59.33. Coleman (1:02.17) and Snelson (1:04.29) came in second and third, respectively. 
LIU earned one last one-two-three finish in the 200 IM to wrap up the individual races of the night. Carrigan earned a first-place finish with a time of 2:13.96 in race. Dziewa (2:16.10) and Furneaux (2:18.17) finished in second and third, respectively. Cabral also completed the 200 IM with a time of 2:29.20. 
The Blackbirds will be back in action when they host NEC competitor, Saint Francis U. on Halloween day. The meet will begin at 12:00pm.

Metro Starlight Media Interview with LIU Brooklyn's Swimming Head Coach; Tiffany Clay after Defeating Manhattan's College @ LIU Brooklyn's Home Swim-Meet Debut ! 

How you feel to be A Div I & LIU Brooklyn's swimming Head Coach  after a remarkable

Resume as a swimmer athlete & assistant's swimming coach for few years?

Tiffany Clay :I think every position is a little bit different, starting a team from the ground-up its quite learning experience, I'm sure everyday I can't say I'm fully prepare, even running

my first swim home-meet, there are so many things I forgot even though, we started at 7:45 am & Its 6:00pm now...

Metro-Starlight:What is the sentiment of the Athletes knowing that you are making your debut as swimming Head Coach as well as the whole team ?

Tiffany Clay:Well...they are all bunch of freshmen & I don't know if they understand, they know we are all going in this together and I know what they are going through because I had that experience, they don't understand its about their first experience it's not about me.

Metro-Starlight:How you see the competition and the challeges ahead competing with

top division I schools with excellent swimming programs in the metropolitan area ? 

Tiffany Clay: Well, we have a decent swimming meet schedule, we are going with Eastern,

Yale, we are going within our conference Wagner, Central Connecticut, St. Francis,we are traveling around a quite a little bit,unfortunally we could not get any other teams in our schedule but we are growing,having our first season  they are a very talented teams and We need to put a little more time and add more bodies next year before we can get them on our schedule .

Metro-Starlight Media: Thank You Coach Clay for your time and we wish you good luck in the season !