Ithaca Men's Swimming & Diving Team Wins Empire 8 and UNYSCSA Championships
Webster, N.Y. – The Ithaca men's swimming & diving team captured the overall team title at the Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association and Empire 8 Championship meet. The Bombers rallied from a 67-point deficit in the team standings on the final day of competition and totaled 1,325 points to place first in a field of 13 teams. The Bombers defeated second-place Stevens by 16 points. It is Ithaca's first state and conference title since the 2003-04 season, and Ithaca's fourth all-time Empire 8 championship. The four-day meet was held at the Webster Aquatic Center.
Junior Jeff Rapp (Liverpool/Liverpool) made an NCAA B qualifying standard and placed second in the finals of the 200-yard backstroke with a school-record time of 1:52.50.
The Bomber divers totaled 95 team points in the finals and preliminaries on the 3-meter board. Junior Derek Rand (Amity/Orange, Conn.) placed second with a total of 492.95 and hit 501.25 in the preliminaries. Both of those scores met the NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Sophomore Martin Brown (McLean/McLean, Va.) also hit to NCAA scores and placed third in the finals with a score of 470.65. Senior Mike Glicini (Dallas/Dallas, Pa.) scored 452.05 in the finals to place fifth and meet the NCAA mark.
Ithaca's 400-yard freestyle relay included junior Antoine Connors (Spartanburg/Spartanburg, S.C.), sophomore Jake Robbins (Fairport/Fairport), freshman John Carr (Brewster/Brewster) and sophomore Chris Cadwell (C.W. Baker/Baldwinsville) and that group placed second in the finals with a time of 3:07.26.
Connors and Cadwell also advanced to the finals of the 100-yard freestyle, as
Cadwell finished fifth with a time of 47.05 seconds and Connors swam 47.34 seconds to place seventh.
Freshman Cheffy Thomas (Carmel/Carmel, Ind.) was fifth in the finals of the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:10.36. Sophomore Jake Lichter (Weston/Weston, Mass.) placed eighth in the finals with a time of 2:13.53.
Day 4 Preliminaries | Day 4 Finals