Day two of the SUNYAC championships opened with more fast swimming. The Blue Wave got off to a strong start yesterday and have continued to build their lead through tonight’s finals session.
The men’s 200 medley relay began with a win from defending champion Geneseo. The team of Kristian Tialios, Kenny Athans, Yonghoon Jun and Jordan Gay won by well over a second, putting up a 1:33.41 to claim the victory. Jun put up a ridiculous 22.15 split on his 50 fly. In second place was Cortland with a 1:34.64. Third place went to Fredonia with a 1:35.32.
In the men’s 400 IM, the Blue Wave continued their winning streak with a victory out of Athans, after his aid in the winning 200 medley relay. Athans dropped almost nine seconds to post a 4:07.73 in the IM for victory in an NCAA B cut time. The next closest swimmer was second place Lucas Santiago of Oneonta – nearly six seconds behind with a 4:13.67. Athans’ teammate Bryan Schaub was third with a 4:13.72.
Jun was the defending champion for the 100 butterfly after having won it last year, and considering all the speed he’s put into the last two butterfly legs of relays, it’s surprising not to see him top the list in finals. However, with a 51.74, Jun took third, behind teammate Andy Schunk who posted a 51.42 for the runner up spot. The championship title went to Potsdam’s Ty Zapisek who finished fourth in this event last year. Zapisek posted a 51.32 to win.
Reeve Callen returned this year to defend his 200 freestyle title for Cortland. He was a 1:42 last year, but this year dipped under that mark for a 1:41.60 to claim victory by over a second. With him going 1-2 was teammate Mark Hanifin who touched in at 1:42.65. The teammates saw a large gap pass before third place Adrian Van Hall of Fredonia touched in with a 1:44.22.
The Red Dragons added another individual title in the next event, courtesy of Jack Jakubek. After finishing in third last year, Jakubek came around with the top seed time in prelims and delivered in finals, putting up a 57.08 to make an NCAA B qualification time as well as claiming his own SUNYAC crown. Potsdam’s Richard Zimmerman also posted an NCAA B cut time with his runner up finish of 57.41. In third was Adam Clouthier of Fredonia finishing at 57.92.
Colton Roe was runner up for Oneonta last year in the 100 backstroke, but this year he was in the limelight, taking home the victory. He posted the fastest front and back splits, taking the early lead and keeping it all the way down the homestretch to win in a 51.64. Second place for Geneseo was Tialios (52.28). Eric Jordan finished in third (53.06) for Fredonia. In the B final, Geneseo’s Branden Dahlem posted a 53.58 to win – a drop of nearly a second, and a time that would have left him fifth in the A final.
The final event of the night for the men was the 800 freestyle relay. The Red Dragons breathed fire into their relay, and came off with the victory as the only team to crack 7 minutes. The quartet of Alex Spatzer, Callen, Hanifin and Matt Hasbrouck joined forces to put a 6:57.07 on the board. Well behind them in second was Blue Wave, touching in at 7:04.98. Third place went to Oneonta (7:05.21).
Team scores after event 25:
Geneseo (539), Cortland (344), Oneonta (325), Fredonia (313), Oswego (217), Potsdam (197), New Paltz (181) Brockport (147), Buffalo State (101)
On the women’s side of things, the Red Dragon women shook things up a bit after ending last night in third place. They began by crushing everyone in the 200 medley relay, winning by two seconds and coming just over two tenths away from an NCAA B cut. The team of Amanda Grossman, Michaela Auer, Chrisanna Hickey and Sarah Culmo posted a 1:46.82 for the victory. In second was Blue Wave with a 1:48.31. Brockport took third with the final sub 1:50 time: a 1:48.36.
Defending champion Chelsea Allocco rose to the occasion again this year for New Paltz, putting up a 4:30.86 to claim her individual event title. Her time in the morning was an NCAA B cut, but after dropping six seconds, she also put herself within two seconds of the time that was invited to NCAAs last year. Second place fell to Oneonta’s Lauren Zentko (4:37.60). Jenna Gibbons of Geneseo was third (4:39.52).
Hailey Modelewski from Geneseo improved on her fourth place finish from last year’s SUNYACs to take the top spot in the women’s 100 butterfly with an NCAA B cut time of 57.13. She was joined by teammate Lily Powell in the top three; Powell claimed the third place position with a 58.13. In second, after helping her relay to a victory, was Hickey for Cortland, posting a 57.65 to secure her runner up spot.
Abigail Max made waves last night, and continued to do so this evening in the 200 freestyle. She posted a time in prelims that would have tied for first place in finals (1:54.36) – but improved by exactly four seconds from morning to evening and claimed the event win in a 1:50.36. That’s a little over a second improvement from last year’s 1:51.54. Max’s time is an NCAA B cut and puts her under the 2013 selected time for the NCAA meet in March. Following her in second was Culmo who had been a part of Cortland’s victorious relay. Culmo posted a 1:54.36 to finish exactly four seconds behind Max for the runner up spot. This is an improvement from her fourth place showing last year. Cassidy Gringer of New Paltz was third in 1:54.49.
After finishing seventh last year in the 100 breaststroke, Melanie Melewski of Brockport put her foot down and plowed on ahead to win the event this year with a 1:05.09, just a hair shy of a second under the NCAA B cut time. (She was 1:05.07 in prelims.) Also under the standard was runner up Samantha Granan from New Palts who posted a 1:05.68 for second place. In third from Fredonia was Larissa Dobson (1:06.75).
Geneseo went 1-2 in the finals of the women’s 100 backstroke, as yet another seventh place finisher from last year stepped it up to claim the SUNYAC title. Lauren Boyce put a stellar 58.33 effort on the board to capture the victory for Geneseo. Teammate Louisa Seelbach followed her to the wall in 59.18. Third place for Cortland was Angelica Ford (59.64).
The final event of the night was the women’s 800 freestyle relay. New Paltz started with a four second lead after Allocco’s lead off leg of the race. Geneseo’s Modelewski handed the task off to Julie Holloway who maintained their position facing off against New Paltz’ Gringer. When Boyce dove into the water for Geneseo, she began to pare down the lead, bringing it to a more manageable two second difference between first and second. Finally, Max took over and put up a 1:50.82 to bring home the Geneseo relay for a 7:43.75 to win. New Paltz came in second at 7:48.36. Third was Oneonta (7:56.07).
Women’s team scores through event 26:
Geneseo (582), Cortland (392), New Paltz (308), Oneonta (282), Fredonia (246), Brockport (225), Oswego (131), Buffalo State (121), Potsdam (103)
The final day begins tomorrow at 10 am for prelims, followed by 6 pm for finals. For live results, click here.