Stevens Jumps Out to Early Lead at Empire 8 Championships- Day 1 Recap
Empire 8 Day 1 Results
ITHACA, N.Y. (February 20, 2013) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men’s swimming team set two school-records on an impressive opening day at the 2013 Empire 8 Championships. The Ducks are currently in first place with a team total of 219 ponts.
Hartwick College is in second place with 151.5 points, while Ithaca College is in third (147.5).
For the men, the 500 freestyle was a blistering fast event as Hartwick senior Kenny Kleso won the Empire 8 title. Kleso posted a NCAA “A” cut time of 4:29.64 that set a championship record. It also broke the program record that he set last year. Stevens sophomore Wesley Elford took second place with a B-cut time of 4:33.86 and Hartwick sophomore Miles Blaney was third with an NCAA "B" cut time of 4:37.11.
The Ducks had the top four finishers in the 200-yard individual medley with John Hu, Craig O'Dell, Joshua Lefeber and Simas Jarasunas (1:51.98, 1:52.97, 1:53.66, 1:54.95). Hu's 1:51.98, O'Dell's 1:52.97 and Lefeber's 1:53.66 were all good for NCAA B-cuts.
Ithaca junior Zack Kundel won the title in the 50-yard freestyle with a school and pool record time of 20.55 seconds, which also met the NCAA B qualifying standard. Hartwick senior Lydon Schultz placed second in an NCAA “B” cut time of 20.76. Ithaca's Peter Knight and Hartwick's Brad Ranson tied for third in the finals in 20.99 seconds.
The 200-medley final closed a great day with a great performance by the Ducks as they re-broke their own school- and championship-record from the morning with a B-cut time of 1:30.86. Kundel anchoring Ithaca's relay with a blazing split of 19.94 seconds, to finish second behind Stevens.
Thursday’s schedule of events will consist of:
200-yard Freestyle Relay
400-yard Individual Medley
100-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle
400-yard Medley Relay
Men's 1-meter Diving
Men - Team Rankings - Through Day 1
Stevens – 219.0
Hartwick – 151.5
Ithaca – 147.5
Alfred – 59.0
Nazareth – 52.0
Utica – 26.0