Stevens Takes Men's Swimming & Diving Championship
Saturday's Results
Final Standings
WEBSTER, N.Y. – The Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks captured their third straight Empire 8 Conference Men’s Swimming & Diving title on Saturday. The Ducks accumulated 992 points, over 240 more than second-place Ithaca (750.5). Hartwick placed third with 599 points. On the day, Empire 8 athletes earned 21 NCAA B cut times.
Freshman James Betz of Stevens claimed top billing in the 1,650 Freestyle in a B cut time of 15:53.09, nearly nine seconds in front of second-place finisher and classmate Connor Harrigan of Stevens (16:02.63). His time also met B cut standards. Fellow Duck Conner Arnott was third (16:15.08).
Tommy Wolinski (Stevens) repeated as 100 Freestyle champion. He swam the finals in a B time of 45.33, just 0.11 seconds in front of Alfred’s Dave Coombes (45.44). Alfred senior David Luke earned the third spot in 45.77.
Hartwick’s Matt Plunkett dethroned two-time defending champ Ravi Sun of Stevens in the 200 Backstroke. The top five E8 finishers met NCAA B cut standards. Plunkett touched up in 1:48.85 with Sun following him in 1:49.57. Nazareth Daniel Burke was third (1:50.07).
Ithaca senior Lucas Zelehowsky edged defending title holder Dane Pilcher (Stevens) in the 200 Breaststroke by just 0.02 seconds. Zelehowsky swam the finals in 2:05.29 with Pilcher finishing in 2:05.31. Both were B cut times. Stevens sophomore Alex Chen took third.
In 3-meter diving, Ithaca senior Matt Morrison completed his third straight sweep of the diving events. His score on the night was 588.40.
Stevens’ Tommy Wolinski, Ethan Gehenio, Jack Rees, and Joshua Lefeber combined to win the 400 Free Relay in 3:03.30. They edged out Alfred which took second (3:03.52) by just 0.22. Hartwick was third (3:06.08).
Post-Meet Awards:
Co-Male Swimmers of the Meet: Miles Blaney (Hartwick) and Joshua Lefeber (Stevens)
Male Diver of the Meet: Matt Morrison (Ithaca)
Male Rookie of the Meet: James Betz (Stevens)
Male Coach of the Year: Brad Thornton (Stevens)
2015 Empire 8 Conference Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships Final Results:
Stevens - 992
Ithaca – 750.5
Hartwick – 599
Alfred – 501
Nazareth – 403.5
Utica - 168