Meet Results

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's swimming team won five events and gained serious footing in the team standings on Friday evening, as the Hawks sit in second place out of nine teams with 454.5 points following the second day of the three-day 2011 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Swimming & Diving Championships at the Flickinger Aquatic Center.

SUNY Geneseo leads the team standings with 516.5 points, but the Hawks lurk closely behind with 454.5 points on the meet. SUNY Cortland sits in third with 387 points, while SUNY Fredonia (291), SUNY Oswego (222), SUNY Oneonta (172), Buffalo State (118), SUNY Potsdam (100) and The College at Brockport (85) round out the rest of the standings.

In addition to capturing titles in five events on the evening, the Hawks established five program records and cleared four NCAA “B” cuts.

The night's most impressive swim came in the first event, as sophomore Yuka Suzuka (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.), senior Becky Baker (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), sophomore Carly Marshall (Cornwall, N.Y.) and junior Christine Rieth (Penfield, N.Y.) partnered up in the 200 medley relay. Suzuka got the foursome off on the right foot with a 27.36 leadoff leg, and Baker followed suit by uncorking an eye-popping 29.13 breaststroke. The Hawks had a three-second lead over Geneseo heading into the final half of the race, and Marshall and Rieth held serve, clocking splits of 26.74 and 23.21 in the butterfly and freestyle legs, respectively. While the Blue Knights closed the gap a bit, New Paltz still did enough to win the relay, taking the event in a SUNYAC overall and SUNYAC meet record time of 1:46.44. The former SUNYAC overall mark also served as the former New Paltz program mark, as Michelle Coombs, Baker, Erica Ellis and Rieth went a 1:46.94 in 2008.

That performance meets NCAA provisional qualification, and based on last year's selection time, the Hawks have a strong chance at being selected for the 2011 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships.

Freshman Chelsea Allocco (Chatham, N.J.) earned her first individual event win of the meet in the 400 individual medley, dropping nearly four seconds off her morning swim to claim the conference crown with a 4:33.84. That performance not only meets the NCAA “B” standard, but it also wipes out the former program mark of 4:38.74, which Marshall set earlier this season. Freshman Ali Smoak (Gansevoort, N.Y.) took 12th in 5:04.77, while classmate Kelly Durma (Bridgewater, N.J.) captured 16th with a 5:10.11.

While Marshall lost her record in the 400 individual medley, she made up for it in the 100 butterfly, gaining runner-up honors with a program-record time of 59.21. That swim betters the previous program mark of 59.84, which Suzuka set last year. Suzuka followed closely behind Marshall, taking third in 59.27, while senior Lori Brown (Hauppauge, N.Y.) touched eighth (1:01.32).

Three Hawks qualified for the championship final in the 200 freestyle. Senior Marissa Morris (Toms River, N.J.) nabbed second place with a 1:54.92, while senior Jessica Lester (Long Beach, N.Y.) and Rieth placed sixth and seventh, respectively, with times of 1:57.04 and 1:57.07. Freshman Victoria Scalise (Rochester, N.Y.) took 10th with a time of 1:58.60.

Baker defended her SUNYAC title in the 100 breaststroke, covering the race in a program-record-setting 1:05.87. That performance betters Ellis' record time of 1:05.95, which she set in 2009, and clears NCAA provisional qualification. Sophomore Katina Lown (Bohemia, N.Y.) scored key points by placing eighth (1:10.85), while sophomore Anna Jakubek (Harriman, N.Y.) finished 11th (1:11.97).

Suzuka also successfully defended her conference crown, doing so in the 100 backstroke. She led from start to finish and turned in an NCAA “B” qualifier (58.36). Senior Allison Wells (Shelton, Conn.) corralled sixth in the event with a 1:01.80, while classmate Kate Genovese (Wantagh, N.Y.) charted a 15th-place 1:05.27.

Finally, the Hawks closed out the meet by winning the 800 freestyle relay. Allocco, Morris, Scalise and Lester combined talents and won by more than two seconds, posting a time of 7:47.65. That swim eclipsed the former program record of 7:49.78, which Wells, Morris, Lester and Rieth set back in 2009.

SUNYAC championship competition concludes tomorrow. The preliminary heats are slated for 10 a.m., while finals are set for 6 p.m.