Loyola University Maryland concluded the 2026 ECAC Open Championships on Sunday with several strong performances, including two ECAC titles by Joe Hayburn and multiple podium finishes in both individual and relay events.
The Greyhounds secured second place in the men’s team standings with 609 points and finished third on the women’s side with 408 points. Joe Hayburn was recognized as the Male Swimmer of the Meet after earning 60 individual points, leading all competitors.
Hayburn ended his championship meet by setting records in the men’s 200 backstroke, finishing in 1:42.84. This time established new marks for the ECAC Championship, the pool, and Loyola’s program. He later won another ECAC title in the men’s 100 freestyle with a time of 42.93, also breaking both ECAC Championships and Loyola records.
Hayburn anchored Loyola’s third-place finish in the men’s 400 freestyle relay alongside Jack Hathaway, Thomas Cechini, and Tyler Knurek, posting a time of 3:00.36.
These achievements added to Hayburn’s earlier wins during the meet, which included victories and records in other events such as the 100 backstroke.
In distance events, Adrianna Caponiti placed third in the women’s 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:31.86. On the men’s side, Chase Garcia led Loyola with a fourth-place finish at 15:50.15 in the same event. Matthew Hughes (fifth), Pierre Leroy (seventh), and Peter Weinstein (eighth) also contributed points for Loyola.
Loyola gained additional points from backstroke events. Sammy Yerkes finished twelfth in the women’s 200 backstroke at 2:04.97; Virginia Walsh was thirteenth; Kelly Bruen fourteenth; and Elsie Bredbenner fifteenth. For the men, Sam Voss took sixth place at 1:49.59; Josh Stegner finished seventh; and Patrick Ciorna eighth.
Haley Robinson earned second place in the women’s 100 freestyle with a time of 51.22 seconds while Gabby Jones finished thirteenth. Tyler Knurek scored for Loyola on the men’s side by placing fourteenth at 45.46 seconds.
In breaststroke races, Noelle Hoffman was seventh for Loyola women at 2:22.86 in the 200 breaststroke; Riley McGerald placed ninth; Makenna O’Brien twelfth; and Grace Litzinger fifteenth. Jack Hathaway led Loyola men by finishing fifth at 2:02.60 followed by Elias Corn (eighth) and Connor Libassi (sixteenth).
The butterfly events saw Caponiti take fourth place for women at 2:07.40 while Yerkes finished eighth and Riley Riebling fifteenth. Hayden Bartz led Loyola men with seventh place at 1:49.47 followed by Cechini (eighth) and Timmy King (twelfth).
Loyola’s relay teams closed out competition with podium finishes as well—the women’s team of Walsh, Madison Testa, Abby Hays, and Jones took third place in their final event while their male counterparts matched that result to end the meet.
