The second day of the UNYSCSA Champs saw some records fall, and a new leader on the men’s side. Stevens made up for the early lead Ithaca had gotten and surpassed their rivals to claim the top spot in the standings at the end of the second day of competition.
The night began auspiciously with the 200 freestyle relay going to the Stevens squad of Tomasz Wolinski, Joshua Lefeber, Shawn Hanak and Tyler Hessler in an Association Record time of 1:21.98. The old record was set last year by Ithaca at 1:22.10. Hanak turned in the swiftest split out of the night with a 19.90. In second place was Ithaca, just shy of also going under their old record, touching in at 11:22.16. Zack Kundel split a 19.97 as the second person breaking 20. Union came in third at 1:23.05.
Immediately after helping his relay to victory, Lefeber returned to the pool to claim the title in the men’s 400 IM. He dropped over seven seconds from his prelims swim to post a 4:03.22, good for the win. Teammate Ravi Sun also dropped a good chunk of time, finishing five seconds faster than his prelims time with a 4:04.76. Rounding otu the top three was Union freshmen John Enquist with a 4:06.67.
Sarah Lawrence racked up some points on Cameron Martinez’ win in the 100 butterfly. Martinez was one of only two athletes under 50 in the morning, and repeated the feat to the tune of a 49.28 to win the A final. Martinez as a sophomore was the youngest swimmer in the final, and improved dramatically from his sixth place showing as a freshman. Zack Wahl of Union was the defending champion and the second athlete under the 50 second barrier at night, posting a 49.44 for runner up place. He was followed by teammate Billy Phillips in third with a 50.11. In the consolation heat, Andrew Welch of Union dropped over a second to win the B final with a 50.80.
Coming off a runner up finish in the 200 freestyle relay, Adam Zelehowsky of Ithaca immediately set about to changing it up. He posted a 1:39.16 in prelims for the top seed going into finals as well as a new Championship record. At night his 1:40.71 was still good enough to secure the top spot by nearly a full second. Association record holder Nick Noga of Stevens was second with a time of 1:41.43. This was exactly a tenth faster than Adam Herzog from Union, finishing third in 1:41.53.
To close out the night, Union posted the fastest time in the men’s 400 medley relay. The team of Welch, Enquist, Wahl and Ben Nadareski posted a 3:21.93 to win the finals, and were less than three tenths away from the Championship record set by Stevens last year. In second was Ithaca (3:22.11) and Stevens took the third place spot (3:23.05).
Men’s team rankings through event 19:
Stevens (753.3), Ithaca (733.5), Union (645), Hartiwck (434), RPI (396), Alfred (282), Nazareth (192.5), RIT (179), Skidmore (173.5), Vassar (172), Saint Lawrence (151), Clarkson (137), Utica (92), Sarah Lawrence (85)
On the women’s side of the meet, Stevens has narrowed the gap between themselves and Ithaca but not quite caught up yet. Stevens began its assault on Ithaca’s lead with the 200 freestyle relay. The team of April Lawson, Nicole Miller, Danielle Caruso and Jenn Rutledge posted a 1:36.39 to claim the victory by less than two tenths of a second over Ithaca’s relay in finals. Ithaca finished with a 1:36.55. In third was Alfred with a 1:37.81.
The women’s 400 IM saw a 1-2 finish by Stevens. Elizabeth Heinbach who did not have a fantastic finish in the 500 the previous day got back up and got things done in the 400 IM tonight. She dropped almost three seconds from prelims to finals and won the event with a 4:29.79. Last year she finished third in this event. In second place was teammate Brittany Geyer who posted a 4:33.58 for the runner up spot. Geyer was defending champion of this event after last year. Julia Cunningham, a freshman from Vassar, snuck into the third place position with a 4:35.19.
Union freshman Christina Belforti laid claim to the title of fastest flyer in the 100 butterfly. She posted a 57.03 to win the event gong away. Her next closest competitor was Maria McClure of Stevens (57.60) who was fourth in this event last year. In a fun turn of splits, McClure and third place Lindsay Biewert of Hartwick posted the exact same back half 50 time (30.59) coming home in the 100; what decided the race was the .03 seconds that McClure was out faster. Biewert touched in third at 57.63. In the B final, two women made it under the minute barrier, separated by .01, and the C final saw yet another sub minute athlete. Lyndsay Isaksen (Ithaca) won the B final with a 59.97; Jill Sirkis (RIT) was second in 59.98. Cassie Papaleo (Ithaca) won the C heat with a 59.99.
Stevens freshmen Caruso returned to the water after the victorious relay to earn an individual win in the 200 freestyle. Her time of 1:52.95 was exactly 1.01 seconds faster than Union junior Anne Trojanowski who finished runner up (1:53.96). Last year Trojanowski placed sixth. In third was Megan Buisman of Ithaca (1:55.29). She was also third last year, but with a quicker finals time.
Women’s diving proved a saving grace for Ithaca’s point total. Heather Markus and Nickie Griesemer proved to be the Senior-Freshman combo that helped to keep Ithaca atop the point totals. Markus was victorious in the 1 meter diving after being the runner up last year and posted a new Championship record score of 489.40 to best the 477.85 posted last year by Korie Fackler of Ithaca. In second, RPI’s Maddie Miller also topped the old score with her 485.10. Markus’ teammate Griesemer was only a few points shy of doing the same with her 474.50.
The final event of the night was the 400 medley relay, which Stevens also came out victorious in. he winning combination was Sharon Rooker, Geyer, McClure and Lawson and they posted a 3:54.14 to win. Geyer made up for the second-plus deficit after Rooker’s swim with a 1:05.6 breaststroke split. McClure nailed down the lead with a 57.0 on fly, and Lawson cruised in for the win with her 51.7 freestyle anchor leg. In second was Ithaca at 3:55.21. Union was third (3:56.28).
At the conclusion of event 20, team scores stfand thus:
Ithaca (706), Stevens (629), Union (521), Hartwick (454.5), Nazareth (359.5), RIT (359.5), Vassar (289.5), Alfred (266), RPI (232), Saint Lawrence (225), William Smith (187), Skidmore (146), Utica (86), Clarkson (78), Sarah Lawrence (76)
