E8 Championships Set for Feb. 18-21
Empire 8 teams will be traveling to Webster, NY, for the 2015 Swimming and Diving Championships beginning Wednesday, February 18 and will run through Saturday Feb. 21 at Webster Schroeder High School. Preliminary races and diving will take place during the morning sessions, starting at 10:00 a.m. each day, followed by event finals in the evening sessions, which start at 6:00 p.m. daily.
Fans can follow the action all week long through the meet’s official timing and scoring page
http://www.tpmlphelps.com/. Please note that the Empire 8 meet is held in conjunction with the UNYSCA Championship Meet. Scoring and results may be delayed to allow for adjustments to reflect only E8 teams/athletes.
An event-by-event preview of the 2015 Men's Swimming and Diving E8 Championships:
50 Freestyle: Stevens Institute of Technology junior Tomasz Wolinski holds the fastest time this season at 20.75, just .02 off last season’s conference winning time. Alfred senior David Luke is the only other swimmer to crack 21 seconds this season with a 20.85 finish.
100 Freestyle: Tomasz Wolinski of Stevens captured the crown last season and eyes the top spot again. He already has bested his championship time of 45.45 by .04 seconds. Alfred’s Dave Coombes and Ithaca’s Adam Zelehowsky have the second and third seeded times, respectively. Coombes took third at last season’s championships with Zelehowsky finishing fifth.
200 Freestyle: Ithaca junior Adam Zelehowsky will look for his third consecutive title at the championships this season. He has the third-fastest time (1:42.46) this season behind Stevens junior Tomasz Wolinski (1:40.85) and Hartwick senior Miles Blaney (1:42.30).
500 Freestyle: Reigning champion Adam Zelehowsky is seeded 11
th this season. The Stevens Ducks own the top four times in the event this season with Hartwick securing the 4-8 spots. Stevens’ freshmen Conor Harrigan (4:37.56) and James Betz (4:37.92) are separated by just .36 seconds for the two top times in the conference this season.
1650 Freestyle: Stevens will be the favorite with the top four times recorded this season. With defending champion Luke Grunewald’s (Hartwick) departure, second-team all-conference sophomore Mark Lippert eyes the top spot this season. He has the second-fastest time at 16:16.56. Only his teammate, freshman Connor Harrigan, has a better time. He swam a 15:59.94 this year.
100 Backstroke: Stevens junior Ravi Sun was just .31 seconds from the top spot at last season’s championships. He secured the fastest time this season at 49.63, which is .79 seconds better than last year’s conference championship winning time. Naz junior Dan Burke (4
th in 2014), Hartwick junior Matt Plunkett (5th), and Alfred’s Dave Coombes (6th) will challenge for the title.
200 Backstroke: The top four finishers at last season’s championships are all back, including two-time defending champion Ravi Sun of Stevens. Second team all-conference performer Daniel Burke of Nazareth looks to challenge for the title as will Hartwick junior Matt Plunkett and Brian Edmister III.
100 Breaststroke: Six athletes have cracked the minute mark this season, four of which are from Stevens. Junior Joshua Lefeber is set to defend his title with teammate David Duque and Ithaca’s Lucas Zelehowsky looking to dethrone him.
200 Breaststroke: Stevens junior Dane Pilcher is the returning champion and holds the second-fastest time in the conference this season at 2:08.68. But teammate David Duque was .19 seconds faster at 2:08.68. Ithaca senior Lucas Zelehowsky and Stevens sophomore Alex Chen have the third and fourth fastest time, respectively, in the conference.
100 Butterfly: Three of the top five finishers last year are back, which includes champion Lucas Zelehowsky. Three Ducks - Joshua Lefeber (49.50), Brennan Maxwell (50.59), and Austen Young (50.66) – have the top three times this season.
200 Butterfly: Ithaca’s Lucas Zelehowsky and Hartwick’s Ben Detar, who finished 1-2 at last season’s meet, both return to shoot for top honors. Last season’s third-place finisher Price Hu of Stevens has the fastest time at 1:52.89 in 2014-15. Teammate Brennan Maxwell was just .11 seconds behind him this season.
200 IM: Ithaca’s Aidan Hartswick is the lone Empire 8 athlete to crack to 2-minute mark this season with a time of 1:59.61. Lucas Zelehowsky placed second at last season’s meet and holds the second-fastest time this season. Alfred’s Zac Toth placed third at the championships in 2014 and looks to compete for the crown.
400 IM: Stevens has five of the top six times in the conference in this event. Second team all-conference Ravi Sun swam a 4:03.93 this season, nearly five seconds better than any other conference athlete. Joshua Lefeber is the defending champion and Hartwick’s Ben Detar finished third last season. Nazareth’s Daniel Burke holds the second-fastest time (4:08.60) in the event this season.
200 Free Relay: Stevens knocked off two-time defending champion Ithaca last season and set a new E8 record of 1:21.98. The Ducks look to be the favorite again this season with a top time of 1:23.17 on the seeding chart.
400 Free Relay: This event will bring the championships to a close. The Stevens Ducks have claimed the top spot five times in the last six seasons and secured a conference-best time of 3:04.18, 3.14 seconds better than any other team.
800 Free Relay: Stevens set a new E8 record time of 6:43.73 in the event last year and is ranked first on the performance list. The Ducks’ top time of 6:51.31 is over 12 seconds faster than any other conference squad.
200 Medley Relay: Ithaca got the win in this event last year, but Stevens’ “A” and “B” teams are the top times in the conference this season at 1:31.71 and 1:35.55, repscetively. The Bombers are third followed by Alfred on the performance lists.
400 Medley Relay: Stevens appears to be the favorite in this relay as well, with just under a 10-second advantage over second seeded Ithaca. The fight for second and third place should be close as Ithaca and Hartwick are separated by just over two seconds.
Diving: Ithaca senior Matt Morrison is the clear favorite after winning the 1-meter and 3-meter diving championship in each of the last two seasons. He is ranked first in the Empire 8 in both events this season.
An event by event preview for the 2015 Women's Swimming and Diving Championships:
50 Freestyle: Familiar faces are back in the 50 free as 12 of the top 13 finishers at last year’s championships return to compete. Sophomore Lake Duffy from Ithaca is the defending champ and Stevens junior Jenn Rutledge placed second in 2014. Hartwick sophomore Kelsey Elliott has the top time this season at 24.55.
100 Freestyle: Stevens senior April Lawson enters as the E8 favorite after finishing first last season. She also holds the top time in the conference at 52.91. Alfred’s Dylan Staniszewski has the second-fastest time on the year and Ithaca’s Lake Duffy took second last season at last season’s meet.
200 Freestyle: Sophomore Danielle Caruso of Stevens is the defending champion in the event. She looks poised to defend her crown after securing the top time this year at 1:52.17. The conference’s top 11 finishers at last season’s meet are back for another shot at the title.
500 Freestyle: The Ducks have won the event for the last six years. Last year’s winner, Danielle Caruso, has the fastest time this season at 4:58.16. She is over 13 seconds quicker than Nazareth sophomore Cameron Hess.
1650 Freestyle: The champions from the past three seasons will square off with 2012 champ Gwen Mathias (Hartwick), 2013 champion Elizabeth Heinbach (Stevens), and 2014 titlist Cameron Hess (Nazareth) set to compete. Stevens’ Danielle Caruso has the fastest recorded time this season at 10:25.55, more than 15 seconds faster than Mathias.
100 Backstroke: Ithaca senior Kylie Bangs, the 2013 runner-up, holds the top time this season at 58.44. Stevens freshman Sarah Hoogenboom (59.51), senior Sarah Rooker (59.64), and Ithaca sophomore Grace Ayer (59.67) are the only other three E8 athletes to crack the one-minute mark. Ayer is the defending champion in the event.
200 Backstroke: Ithaca’s Grace Ayer and Kylie Bangs placed 1-2 in the event last season. The pair has the top two times in the conference this season as well. Bangs swam the event in 2:06.04 with bangs touching up at 2:07.15.
100 Breaststroke: Defending champion Brittany Geyer of Stevens is ranked first (1:04.16) this season. Nazareth’s Kimberly Pedrotti (1:08.63) is second with Stevens April Lawson (1:09.59) ranking third.
200 Breaststroke: Stevens has the top three times in the conference this season led by last year’s winner, Brittany Geyer. She owns the top time on the psyche sheet at 2:17.67 and is followed by sophomore Katie Prescott (2:27.79) and junior Katlyn Christensen (2:30.95).
100 Butterfly: The league features three swimmers who posted sub one-minute times during the season. The top time of 57.04 belongs to Stevens senior Maria McClure who is also the defending individual champion in the event. She is followed by Stevens freshman Sarah Jurczyk (58.59) and senior Sharon Rooker (59.87).
200 Butterfly: The top spot on the podium has belonged to the Ducks as a Stevens swimmer has won the event the last five years. Maria McClure is the two-time defending champion with a seed time of 2:05.02. Elizabeth Heinbach (2:08.90) and Sarah Jurczyk (2:10.35) are the next fastest times clocked this season.
200 IM: Grace Ayer of Ithaca won this event last year and she us seeded third with a time of 2:12.37. Hartwick’s Imma Rutigliano owns the top spot on the psyche sheet with a time of 2:09.96, nearly two seconds better than Stevens’ Katlyn Christensen (2:11.70).
400 IM: Stevens junior Elizabeth Heinbach (2014) and senior Brittany Geyer (2013) have won this event the last two seasons. Heinbach is ranked 1
st again this season with a time of 4:32.19. Geyer is second (4:35.61). Ithaca’s Grace Ayer and Hartwick’s Imma Rutligliano are ranked third and fourth, respectively.
200 Free Relay: Stevens has won the event the last six years. Last season, the Ducks edged out Ithaca by .16 seconds to claim the victory. They have the top time this season (1:38.38) with Alfred ranking second (1:40.99).
400 Free Relay: Like the 200-free relay, the Ducks have won the event the last six years and are favored to win again with a top seed time of 3:33.07. Ithaca is seeded second (3:38.33) followed by the Stevens “B” team in third (3:42.69).
800 Free Relay: Ithaca is the defending champion in the relay. The Stevens Ducks have the top time from the season of 7:44.62, almost 15 seconds faster than Hartwick’s time.
200 Medley Relay: Stevens will look to take back the title as Ithaca won the event last season. The Ducks are the fastest team thus far this season (1:48.24). Ithaca ranks second (1:51.38) followed by Hartwick (1:53.98).
400 Medley Relay: Stevens will be looking to claim top honors for the fifth time in this event. The Ducks are favored with the only sub-four minute time (3:53.73). Ithaca is ranked second (4:02.29).
Diving: The diving events have been won by the Ithaca Bombers the past four seasons and 2015 could produce similar results. Nickie Griesemer won the 3-meter title last year and finished second in the 1-meter event. Teammates Bri Shontz, Katie Helly, and Anna Belson will compete with Griesemer for the titles this season.