Hunter College Wins Third Consecutive CUNY Women’s Championship

The 2016-17 CUNYAC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships came to a close on Sunday, February 5th, 2017 at the APEX at Lehman College. At the conclusion of this exciting weekend, Hunter College finished on top of the competition with a total of 599 points to earn their tenth title and third straight championship. Coming in second place was Baruch with 497 points. CSI finished in third with 360 points. The rest of the field included Lehman with 239, Brooklyn scoring 179, John Jay with 91 and York at 16 points.

Scott Binter, the Co-Head Coach at Hunter College, was “excited and looking forward to having most of his swimmers back next season and was more than happy to say, “Each year, our team prepares with one goal in mind and that is to win the CUNYAC Championship and to do it 3 years in a row is quite special”.

The first women’s event of the day was the 1650 Yard Freestyle and Hunter College’s Sera Knobler (20.08.93) and Irene Collins (20:20.34) finished with the two fastest times in the event. Finishing in third was Wendy Ambrosio of Baruch College with a finishing time of 20:22.44.

The Women’s 200 Yard Backstroke would follow after the 1650 Yard Freestyle. Gabrielle Ozcos of Hunter College would finish with the top score in the event with a score of 2:25.62. Samantha Escobedo of CSI finished in second place with a time of 2:25.68. In third place, Julia Defonte of Hunter College would finish with a time of 2:26.39.

In the Women’s 100 Yard Freestyle event, CSI’s Ewa Wojciechowska finished with the best time with a time of 55.53. Valerie Vassilieva of Brooklyn College finished in second with a time of 57.71. Two-sport athlete Victoria Crea of CSI finished in third place with a time of 57.83. Hunter gained 16 points to add to their lead, making it 502 points for the Hawks at this point. Baruch College added 32 points to their overall team score, finishing the event with 410 points. CSI finished with 29 points in the event which was enough to keep them in third place overall with 312 points.

In the Women’s 200 Yard Breaststroke, Yee Phang of Baruch College finished with the best time of the event, at 2:37.01. Carla Canning of Hunter College finished in second place with a time of 2:37.21. Jessica Reynoso of Lehman College finished in third place with a time of 2:39.41.

The Women’s 200 Yard Butterfly event followed the 200 Yard Breaststroke. Alexandra Rubiano of Hunter College finished in first place with a final time of 2:21.85. Baruch College’s Daniela Giraldo came in second place with a final time of 2:24.88. Hunter College’s Lindsey Pero finished in third place with a final score of 2:27.85.

In the final women’s event of the 2016-17 CUNYAC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, CSI, whose team of swimmers were: Naomi Gaggi, Samantha Escobedo, Victoria Crea, and Ewa Wojciechowska, won the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay with a top score of 3:53.94. Baruch College’s team of swimmers: Andrea Gasic, Asimina Hamakiotes, Daniela Giraldo, and Wendy Ambrosio, came in second place with a final time of 3:56.02. In third place, Hunter’s group of swimmers: Hanaa Lacchab, Lindsey Pero, Sera Knobler, and Alexandra Rubiano, finished with a final time of 4:00.69.

Junior swimmer, Alexandra Rubiano of Hunter College was named the 2016-17 CUNYAC Women’s Swimming and Diving MVP. She was honored to be named this year’s MVP winner and stated, “This win means everything to all of our swimmers…We worked day in and day out to make sure that we could win another championship.”

At the beginning of Day 3, Hunter held onto first place with 389 points. Followed by the Baruch Bearcats with 335, and in third were the Dolphins from CSI with 260 points. The field was rounded out by Lehman with 188, Brooklyn with 132, John Jay with 55, and York with 16.

News courtesy of Michael Ackalitis.