Thursday ResultsBUFFALO – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's swimming team kicked off day one of the swimming portion of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Swimming & Diving Championships on Thursday at Erie Community College's Burt Flickinger Aquatic Center, ranking second out of nine teams with 188 points.
SUNY Geneseo leads the team standings with 305 points, while SUNY Cortland sits right behind New Paltz with 114 points. SUNY Fredonia (fourth, 103), SUNY Oneonta (fifth, 102.5), The College at Brockport (sixth, 91), SUNY Oswego (seventh, 71.5), Buffalo State (eighth, 59) and SUNY Potsdam (ninth, 54) round out the remainder of the team standings.
Action continues at the meet tomorrow, with the preliminary heats set for 10 a.m. and finals slated for 6 p.m.
New Paltz started the evening session with a program record in the 200 freestyle relay, as the foursome of sophomore
Molly McCulloch (Rome, N.Y./Holland Patent), freshman
Katie Donlevy (Bayside, N.Y./The Mary Louis Academy), freshman
Kaleigh O'Halloran (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) and senior
Cassidy Griger (Cooperstown, N.Y./Cooperstown Central) clocked a second-place time of 1:36.52. That edged the former program standard of 1:36.94 set by Michelle Coombs, Regina Davide, Allison Wells and Christine Rieth back in 2008.
Griger shaved a second off of her time from the morning in the 500 freestyle and ended up finishing second in the event with a 5:05.45. By virtue of placing second in the event, Griger earned Second-Team All-SUNYAC honors. In the consolation final of the 500 freestyle, senior
Casey O'Connor (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) and junior
Ann Fici (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) placed 10th (5:23.82) and 11th (5:24.23) overall, respectively, while freshman
Whitney Knowlton-Wardle (Chatham, Mass./Nauset Regional) finished 13th (5:28.97).
The Hawks gained a significant leg up over the teams below them in the 200 individual medley, as six New Paltz swimmers scored in the event. Donlevy picked up Second-Team All-SUNYAC recognition by finishing third with a time of 2:10.62, while freshman
Jaimie Kaefer (North Bellmore, N.Y./W.C. Mepham) placed right behind her with a fourth-place 2:10.76. Sophomore
Megan Joseph (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) won the consolation final with a ninth-place time of 2:14.48, while seniors
Ella Graffin (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca),
Maggie Heaton (New Milford, Conn./New Milford) and
Kim Kallansrude (Muttontown, N.Y./Jericho) placed 10th (2:15.24), 14th (2:16.71) and 16th (2:19.68), respectively.
McCulloch earned Second-Team All-SUNYAC accolades in the 50 freestyle, as she touched the wall second in the event (24.16). O'Halloran also made the championship final and wound up placing eighth (25.20). In the consolation final, freshman
Nicole Lee (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) finished 12th (25.17) overall, while junior
Aimee Del Favero (Auburn, N.Y./Home School) took 13th (25.38).
Finally, in the 400 medley relay, the quartet of O'Halloran, Joseph, McCulloch and Griger combined for a third-place time of 4:01.69.
