Meet Results

BUFFALO – Junior Yuka Suzuka (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) was named the 2012 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Most Outstanding Female Swimmer and senior Christine Rieth (Penfield, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) earned the Grace Mowatt Award following the third and final day of the 2012 SUNYAC Swimming & Diving Championships at Erie Community College's Burt Flickinger Aquatic Center on Saturday, leading the State University of New York at New Paltz women's swimming team to a fourth-place finish out of nine teams with 500 points.

Suzuka is the third New Paltz swimmer to earn the conference's top honor for female swimmers. Joanna Masterson (2005, 06) and Michelle Coombs (2007, 08) each were two-time winners of the award. Current New Paltz assistant coach Michelle Rodriguez captured the honor the past three seasons while representing SUNY Geneseo.

Suzuka won three individual events, hit two NCAA automatic-qualifying cuts and set two conference overall records during the three-day meet. She clocked a 2:08.62 time in the 200 individual medley on day one, which met NCAA provisional qualification. Suzuka followed that swim up on the meet's second day, as she charted an impressive 55.53 in the 100 backstroke. Her 100 backstroke time not only met NCAA automatic qualification, but it also set the conference meet and conference overall records.

Finally, her time of 2:01.60 in the 200 backstroke on Saturday met the NCAA automatic standard and erased the conference meet and conference overall records. Alex Dockstader of Geneseo held the former meet record of 2:05.41, which she set back in 2009, while New Paltz's Claudine Gruver held the former conference overall mark of 2:03.23, which she set back in 1999. Gruver's conference overall time also stood as the former program mark.

Rieth became the program's third-ever Grace Mowatt Award recipient, as she was honored for her achievements both in and out of the pool. The Grace Mowatt Award is awarded annually to a senior female swimmer/diver based on the following criteria: All-America honors, All-SUNYAC honors, improvement throughout collegiate career and academic achievement. Rieth has attended the NCAA Championships three times, and she is the only New Paltz female swimmer to own that distinction. She is a two-time SUNYAC champion in the 50 freestyle and has swam the anchor leg on six conference-championship relays. Past New Paltz recipients of the Grace Mowatt Award were Jessica DiFabio (1998) and Masterson (2006).

Sophomore Chelsea Allocco (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) kicked off the session in grand fashion, clocking an NCAA “B” cut time (17:26.44) in the 1,650 freestyle to defend her conference title. That swim also bettered the program mark of 17:29.32, which Allocco set at last year's SUNYAC meet. Her 1,000 split of 10:34.80 also set a school record for the 1,000 freestyle. Sophomore Niki Ghostlaw (New Windsor, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) went an 18:41.22, which was good enough for eighth place overall, while freshman Rachael Cummings (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro) scored points with a 15th-place standard of 19:01.11.

Rieth finished runner-up in the 100 freestyle, as she charted a time of 52.42. Sophomore Victoria Scalise (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) joined Rieth in the championship final, and she clocked a fifth-place 53.86. In the consolation final, junior Katina Lown (Bohemia, N.Y./Connetquot) tied for third in the heat, which gave her a tie for 11th overall.

In the 200 breaststroke, freshman Colleen Stewart (Shelton, Conn./Shelton) represented the Blue and Orange in the championship final, taking sixth with a time of 2:33.84. Junior Anna Jakubek (Harriman, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) also scored points for the Hawks in the event, placing 15th (2:36.45).

Junior Carly Marshall (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall Central) lowered the conference meet record in the 200 butterfly, as she used a strong front half to post an event-winning time of 2:08.30. That swim, which also met NCAA provisional qualification, bettered the former conference meet record of 2:08.60 set by Lindsay Dressel of Geneseo in 2009. Senior Amanda Cloer (Stony Point, N.Y./North Rockland) collected key points for the Hawks in the consolation final, finishing 11th overall (2:18.00).

Finally, the 400 freestyle relay team of Rieth, Lown, Suzuka and Scalise concluded the meet with a 3:33.40 performance in the event, which was good for third place.

Geneseo won the league title with 721.5 points, while SUNY Fredonia's 657.5 points gave the Blue Devils second place in the team standings. SUNY Cortland (633), New Paltz (500), SUNY Oneonta (320), The College at Brockport (245), SUNY Oswego (219), Buffalo State (174) and SUNY Potsdam (125) rounded out the remainder of the field.

The 2012 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships will occur from Wednesday-Saturday, March 21-24, in Indianapolis. Suzuka qualified for the meet automatically, while those who achieved provisional cuts will have to bank on being selected in an at-large field.