WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – For the first time in over 30 years, the Monmouth University men's and women's swimming team returned to West Long Branch, as they hosted in-state rivals Saint Peter's and Rider at Richard E. Steadman Natatorium Tuesday night.  

In addition to its first home meet in over 30 years, the Monmouth women's team achieved their first win in that span as they defeated Saint Peter's 78-64. The Hawks picked up back-to-back individual wins as junior Sam Lynch won his ninth event of the year in the 100-yard butterfly (49.12) and sophomore Anne Skimmons won her first event of the year in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:01.52. Skimmons would later finish second in the women's 100-yard breaststroke, just 1.10 seconds behind her second win.

"The team swam really hard and gave great effort," said Monmouth head coach Matt Nunnally. "It was really exciting to see a packed house and people excited about the program." The packed house included 243 people, which is the max capacity of Richard E. Steadman Natatorium.

In addition to the individual event wins, several Hawks notched their best times of the season, including Michael Lanigan, Jessica Sacco, Alexis Knowles, Mitch Simmer, Savannah Moley, Jessica Arias, and Tyler Kurywczak, who participated in his first meet of the season.

 "We've made tremendous strides from where we've started in the beginning of the year to where we are now," Nunnally added. "I'd almost say the team is unrecognizable. It was great to see the women get a win tonight. We're happy about that."

The Hawks will return to the pool next for the MAAC Championships in Buffalo, NY. The four day event will be from February 10-February 14.

"The MAAC Championships are two weeks from tonight, so it's exciting to get to this phase of the season after putting in all of the work," said Nunnally. "Now we can see how far we've come, go up to Buffalo and swim fast."

@monmouthswim -- #FlyHawks