Empire 8 Wraps Up Day 3 of Championships

Photo Courtesy: Empire 8

The Empire 8 women’s swimming and diving teams wrapped up day three Friday night at the 2016 Empire 8 Conference Championship in Ithaca, NY.

Stevens Institute of Technology grabbed the top spot in the 200 Butterfly for the seventh straight year. This year sophomore Sarah Jurczyk earned the title with a B cut of 2:07.29. Hartwick sophomore Madeline Hayes (2:11.99) was second and Stevens sophomore Tori Glascock (2:13.18) was third.

Ithaca junior Grace Ayer reclaimed the title in the 100 Backstroke after also winning in 2014. Ayer clocked a time of 57.63, a full second a head of Stevens freshman Courtney Jones (58.68). Senior Katlyn Christenson earned a top-3 finish for the Ducks with a time of 1:00.51.

For the first time since 2009 an Ithaca swimmer was on the top of the podium in the 100 Breaststroke. Junior Sam Reilly (1:06.69) beat out Stevens sophomore Katie Prescott by a mere .51 seconds (1:07.20). Nazareth sophomore Erika Holland was not far behind in third at 1:08.36.

Wrapping up the night was the Stevens 800 Free Relay team, which swam to an NCAA B cut time of 7:38.59, to take the title for the first time since 2013. Danielle Caruso, Elizabeth Heinbech, Jurczyk and Jones beat out Ithaca by over four seconds (7:41.21). Hartwick was third (7:44.08).

The final day of competition begins tomorrow with prelims at 10 a.m. The finals start at 6 p.m.

The Empire 8 men’s swimming and diving teams wrapped up day three Friday night at the 2016 Empire 8 Conference Championship in Ithaca, NY.

The 200 Butterfly finals got things started on the night with Hartwick senior Ben Detar taking the title for the second straight year. He saw to a B-cut winning time of 1:52.14, edging out Stevens Institute of Technology’s freshman Vinny Tavoletti (1:53.17 B-cut) by just over a second. Stevens sophomore Brennan Maxwell took third in 1:54.28.

Nazareth senior Daniel Burke, who place second at last season’s championships in the 100 Backstroke, claimed top honors this season with a 50.49. He edged Hartwick’s Matt Plunkett (50.75) by just .26 seconds for the title. Both times were B-cut finishes. Stevens’ Ethan Gehenio took third in 51.23.

Ducks took the top three positions in the 100 Breaststroke. SeniorJoshua Lefeber won the title for the third straight year with a B cut 56.56. Senior Dane Pilcher finished in 57.45 (B Cut) and junior Alex Chen was third in 58.96.

Sophomore Chris Deaver won the 1-meter diving event to become the first Alfred diver to claim the title since 2010. Deaver totaled a score of 470.50, improving his prelim score by 43.05 points. Ithaca freshman Scott Hillen scored 447.30 and Nazareth freshman Alex Hoyt scored a mark of 348.55.

The final event of the night was the 800 Freestyle Relay. Stevens won the event for the third year in a row as the quart of Mark Lippert, Ravi Sun, Tommy Wolinski and Lefeber clocked a time of 6:49.82. Hartwick was close behind at 6:52.86 and Nazareth College took third in 7:07.54.

The championships wrap up tomorrow with the prelims beginning at 10 a.m. and the finals slated to begin at 6 p.m.

Empire 8 contributed this report.

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