Season Openers for Alfred, Hartwick, Ithaca and Nazareth

Season Openers for Alfred, Hartwick, Ithaca and Nazareth

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ITHACA
The Ithaca College women's swimming and diving team opened the 2014 campaign with a home tri-meet against Fredonia and Brockport Saturday afternoon at the A&E Aquatics Pavilion. Ithaca recorded 10 first-place finishes on the day, giving the Bombers two victories in the tri-meet.
 
The Bombers opened with a win in the 200-yard medley relay, as the team of Kylie Bangs, Grace Ayer, Lyndsay Isaksen and Lake Duffy took the top spot with a time of 1:52.71.
 
Ayer carried her momentum through the rest of the meet, as she also took first in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 28.35. She also took the top spot in the 50-yard butterfly (28.08) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:12.83), giving her three individual first place finishes on the day.
 
Bangs, Isaksen and Duffy also secured individual first-place finishes later in the meet. Bangs took first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.46, while Duffy recorded a time of 25.42 in the 50-yard freestyle to pace the field. Isaksen rounded out the finishes with the top spot in the 100-yard butterfly, thanks to a time of 1:03.71.
 
Newcomer Nilza Costa earned two top finishes in her first collegiate meet. She finished first in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:09.42, and paced the field with a time of 5:25.40 in the 500-yard freestyle.
 

ALFRED & NAZARETH
Nazareth opened the regular season Saturday at Alfred. The women's team downed the Saxons 136-87 while the men's team fell 140-102. Junior Kimberly Pedrotti took first in the 200-yard IM (2:23.7), second in the 1000-yard freestyle (11:18.69), and third in the 500-yard freestyle (5:35.07) to lead the women. 

The 200-yard medley relay team, consisting of sophomore Elizabeth Carro, junior Nicole Charette, freshman Erika Holland, and sophomore Bridget Geary, took first with a time of 2:00.44. Holland also took first in the 100-yard butterfly event with a time of 1:05.53, and classmate Sarah Izzo finished in third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:07.26. Carro added a pair of second-place finishes in individual events. She was second in the 200-yard IM (2:27.99) and in the 100-yard backstroke (1:07.02). Senior McLeana Schwab finished right behind Carro in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:08.01.

Sophomore Katie Kempf claimed first in both diving events. She tallied 113.85 points in the three-meter event and 130.3 points in the one-meter event. The 1000-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststoke were both events in which Nazareth swimmers claimed the top three spots. In the 1000 freestyle, sophomore Cameron Hess took first (11:12.99), followed by Pedrotti in second, while senior Brittany Friedrich was third (11:44.06). Friedrich was the top finisher in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:13.91, and she was followed by Holland (1:14.39), and Charette (1:15.37). In addition to her first-place finish in the 1000-yard event, Hess added a second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle as she touched the wall in 5:32.65.

Nazareth also had top performers in the 100 and 200-yard freestyle events. In the 100, sophomore Shannon O'Malley was second with a time of :59.38, and Geary was third with a time of :59.39. In the 200 event, sophomore Lillian Masters took second (2:08.54), freshman Annabel O'Connor was third (2:09.81), and junior Renee Stromski (2:10.16) finished a fraction of a second after O'Connor for fourth.

The Saxons got five individual event wins – two each from sophomore Dylan Staniszewski and senior Chrissy Behr.
  
Staniszewski won the 200-yard freesstyle (2:04.07) and 500-yard free (5:29.71) and Behr took the 50-yard free (25.19) and 100-yard free (56.22). Senior Allison Derwallis won the 100-yard backstroke (1:06.62).
  
Junior Kelsey McRill was second in the 50-yard free (25.84).
  
The Saxons' 200-yard freestyle relay team of Behr, freshman Elizabeth Schiffhauer, McRill and Staniszewski posted a winning time of 1:44.43.
 

HARTWICK
On Saturday Hartwick opened their season with the ninth annual Hartwick Relays. The Hawk women placed fourth.

The Hartwick women earned a pair of first-place finishes. Junior Helen Merkley (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland), sophomore Kelsey Elliott (Cortland, NY/Homer), and seniorsKaitlyn Campbell (Bartlett, IL/Glenbard North) and Gwen Mathias (Sunland, CA/Southwestern Academy) were victorious in the 850 crescendo.  Their time was 8:38.12.
           
Imma Rutligiano (Tillson, NY/John A. Coleman), Rachel Bellis (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua Academy), Campbell, and Elliott also won the 400 free relay in 3:49.32.