Stevens Swimming Wins First Empire 8 Title in Program History
Rob Kulish
Empire 8 Day 4 Results
Team Scores
ITHACA, N.Y. (February 23, 2013) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women’s swimming team won the Empire 8 title for the first time in program history Saturday night in Ithaca, N.Y. The Ducks finished the four-day event with a team score of 814 points, 33 points better than second place Ithaca College.
After the Ducks and Bombers was Hartwick College in third with 614 points and Nazareth College in fourth with a team total of 522.
The Ducks had placed second at the Empire 8 meet the last three years, finally breaking through at the 2013 Championships.
Freshman Elizabeth Heinbach broke an 18-year old championship record in the 1,650-yard freestyle by more than seven seconds and the previous Stevens record by almost 12 seconds, winning the mile swim and earning an NCAA B-cut. Hartwick sophomore and defending champion Gwen Mathias placed second (17:43.79) and Stevens senior Victoria Baldwin took home third-place in a time of 17:52.87.
Hartwick sophomore Jade Woodend came in first in the 100 free with an NCAA “B” cut time of 51:52. Stevens freshman Jennifer Rutledge recorded a B-cut with a 52.12, taking second place and April Lawson was third (52.73).
Ithaca dominated in the 200-yard backstroke where the Bombers placed three finishers in the event finals, including the event champion and runner-up. Megan Buisman won with a time of 2:04.45 and edged teammate Kylie Bangs who clocked a 2:04.78. Both times met the NCAA B qualifying standard. Stevens' Marissa Douglas and Megan Lisbon went three-four in the 200-yard backstroke with B-cut finishes of 2:06.52 and 2:06.80.
Senior Carissa Risucci continued to excel for Nazareth's women's swimming and diving team. After winning the 100 breaststroke title on Friday, Risucci was back in the water Saturday to post the top time in the 200 breaststroke (2:16.20) - notching an NCAA A-cut time. Stevens sophomore Brittany Geyer also punched her ticket to the national meet with an A-cut time (2:16.71) placing second in the event.
In the final event, with the title all but wrapped up, the team of Douglas, April Lawson, Rutledge and Louise Moores carded a 3:28.70 to win the 400-yard freestyle relay and pocket the final NCAA B-cut of a remarkably impressive title run.