Empire 8 Swimming Faces Major Contests Before Thanksgiving Break

By James Sica, Swimming World College Intern

CAMBRIDGE – As one of the final weekends before teams traditionally head for their winter invitationals, the six teams of Empire 8 swimming (Ithaca College, Stevens Institute, Hartwick College, Nazareth College, Alfred University, and Utica College) still have some major contests on their calendar as they continue to move past Thanksgiving and toward December.

Looking Back…

Several teams had a busy week in the midst of heavy training last week, including Alfred and Hartwick which both swam back-to-back competitions at home and on the road. Hartwick split with SUNY Oneonta, with the men taking home the win, while both the men and women fell to Renssellaer Polyntechnic Institute last week. That brings the Hartwick men to a 5-2 record and the women to a 3-4 record. The Alfred men won both of their contests to improve to 3-1, while the Saxon women fell to Fredonia and record a win against University of Pittsburgh at Bradford to improve to a 2-4 record. Nazareth men and women both improved to 2-2 with wins over St. Lawrence, while both the Utica men (4-2) and women (3-3) came out with wins over Cazenovia College.

Neither Ithaca or Stevens competed last week, but will return to action looking to come out on top in two very competitive meets; Ithaca at the Hamilton Quad meet and Stevens at the Franklin and Marshall Invitational.

Ithaca College

Ithaca returns to competition this week with both the men and women competing at the annual Hamilton Quad meet against SUNY Geneseo, Hamilton College, and conference rival Hartwick. This meet is scored as three duel meets, so expect the men to play to their strengths and try to secure three wins through strong relays and dominant individual performances. The Zelehowsky brothers will be strong as always in the freestyle (A. Zelehowsky top times – 48.22, 1:44.77) and butterfly (L. Zelehowsky top times – 51.96, 1:58.24) events, while senior sprinter/backstroker Logan Metzger and freshman breaststroker Aidan Hartswick will help round out Ithaca’s top scorers. SUNY Geneseo will be Ithaca’s top competition at the meet, and the two teams are matched up fairly evenly; Geneseo’s backstrokers have a slight edge while Ithaca’s breaststrokers and relays are stronger. While the Bomber men lack the traditional depth they have had in the past, they have continued to impress this season with their consistency and lack of any major holes in their roster, so look for this to be an extremely competitive meet that may be decided by just a few races.

On the women’s side, expect the Lady Bombers depth to help them prevail against three strong teams. Sophomore Grace Ayer will continue to help the Bomber’s roster because of her sheer versatility; Ayer could conceivably take home wins in the 100 or 200 backstroke, 100 or 200 breaststroke, 200 IM, or 50, 100, or 200 freestyle. Fellow sophomore Lake Duffy should continue to be a source of points in the sprint events, while seniors Kylie Bangs (backstroke), Megan Buisman (backstroke/freestyle), and Lyndsay Isaksen (butterfly) provide some top end speed in the stroke events on the program. Similar to the Bomber men, Geneseo will be Ithaca’s top competition, with All-American’s Julie Halloway and Abigail Max providing some top end speed in the freestyle and backstroke events. Although they may be challenged in some events, expect the Bomber’s depth to let them prevail over the other three teams.

Stevens Institute of Technology

Stevens will travel to Lancaster, PA to compete at the three-day Franklin & Marshall Invitational this Friday. Expect both the men and women to have stiff competition from several of the schools competing, including Washington & Lee and host Franklin & Marshall. On the men’s side, junior Ravi Sun will be looking to improve on his season bests in the 100 and 200 backstroke (52.06, 1:52.12), as will Joshua Lefeber in the IM’s (1:56.19, 4:12.03) and Price Hu in the 200 butterfly (1:55.48). Senior Brittany Geyer will try to do the same in the breaststroke (1:07.39, 2:25.79), while sophomore Danielle Caruso will be vying for the top spots in the distance freestyle events (5:08.24, 10:32.16, 17:49.84).

The Ducks usually swim very fast in late November/early December before buckling down for winter training, so be on the look-out for several athletes to be gunning for times that may qualify them for NCAAs at the end of the year. The next contest on Steven’s calendar is the ECAC Championships, another three-day prelims/finals competition that is another opportunity to race in an environment similar to the conference championships at the end of the year and potentially record some NCAA qualifying times.

Hartwick College

While Hartwick split against SUNY Oneonta and both their men and women fell to RPI last week, there were still notable swims that should make them competitors at the upcoming Quad meet against Geneseo, Hamilton, and conference rival Ithaca. Miles Blaney was solid as ever in the freestyle events (48.13, 1:45.66), while Matt Plunkett impressed in the 200 backstroke (1:56.64), Ben Detar in the 200 butterfly (1:57.62). and sophomore Luis Santiesteban in the 200 IM (2:00.93). Those four will be going head to head with several Ithaca swimmers, including the Zelehowsky brothers, and if they can come out on top and manage the damage in their weaker events they have a chance of challenging for the top team at the meet.

On the women’s side, it will likely be much harder to come out with wins against Geneseo and Ithaca. Imma Rutigliano had an impressive triple against RPI, swimming the 200 free (2:00.74), 500 free (5:24.64), and 200 IM (2:14.37), but Hartwick’s weakness in the sprints and 100’s of strokes may dig them too deep into a hole to get out of. They should be able to challenge Hamilton for a duel meet win.

Nazareth College

Nazareth will take on SUNY Fredonia at home this Saturday in what should be a tough contest for both teams. On the men’s side, the Golden Flyers will have to think about how best to use Daniel Burke, the backstroke and IM specialist who has been the top performer on the men’s side this year. Fredonia has a few holes in their roster, particularly in the sprint events, and if Nazareth can earn enough depth points while securing individual and relay wins with Burke this should be a close contest. On the women’s side, the Golden Flyers will be looking at Cameron Hess to bring home some major points in the distance events, where Fredonia is comparatively weak. Similar to the Flyer men, if the women can manage some depth points in the events where they are weaker (50, 100 freestyles and backstrokes) while winning some of the more competitive events this could be a closer meet.

Utica College

Utica will travel to Saratoga Springs to take on Skidmore College this weekend where they should find a tough contest. The Thoroughbred women will be looking for their first win of the season, and Utica will have their work cut out for them if they want to deny them their first win. Freshman Phoebe King (free, back, IM), freshman Alyson Baribault (breaststroke), and Mikey Maxwell (sprints) will all have to improve on their season bests to come away with wins, as will the Pioneer relays. On the men’s side, expect the Pioneers to be equally challenged. Junior Raphael Warnon should be an asset in the backstrokes, but the Pioneers will have to find points in their weaker events if they want to come out on top.

Alfred University

No meets this week.

Upcoming Schedule

November 21-23: Stevens at F&M Invite
November 22: Hartwick-Ithaca-Hamilton-Geneseo Quad meet; SUNY Fredonia at Nazareth; Utica College at Skidmore

Empire 8 Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Week for Week of November 10

This week two Alfred Saxons were awarded the Empire 8 Swimming and Diving Athlete of the week for their performances during the week of November 10th: senior David Luke and sophomore Dylan Staniszewski. Luke helped propel the Saxon men to a win over SUNY Fredonia last Friday with a pool record in the 50 freestyle (21.14) while also contributing to two relay wins. Staniszewski won four races and was a part of two winning relays in the Saxons double header this past weekend, winning the 100 (55.37), 200 (2:00.88), 500 (5:28.35) freestyles in addition to the 400 IM (4:56.00).

James Sica is a volunteer assistant coach with the Harvard women’s swimming and diving program. Previously, he coached and swam at Ithaca College in the Empire 8.

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