Saturday Results

BUFFALO – The State University of New York at New Paltz men's swimming team punctuated a historic performance at the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Swimming & Diving Championships on Saturday following the third and final day of swimming competition at Erie Community College's Burt Flickinger Aquatic Center, as the Hawks solidified a second-place finish with a record-breaking performance in the 400 freestyle relay.
 
New Paltz finished second in the final team standings with 526 points, marking the program's highest finish at the conference meet since a second-place result in 1994.
 
In the meet's final event, the Hawks put together a performance for the ages. Leading off the 400 freestyle relay, junior Austin Kowalsky (Bellmore, N.Y./W.C. Mepham) gave New Paltz a sizable lead with a 46.12. Sophomore Caleb Treadwell (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) then dove in and extended the advantage, posting a 46.43 split to hand New Paltz nearly a two-second lead over second-place SUNY Geneseo. Senior Ethan Cooke (Middletown, Conn./Middletown) kept the pace going with a 46.44 split, and senior Will Koenig (Highland, Calif./Redlands East Valley) anchored the relay in 46.15 to stop the clock at 3:05.14, shattering the SUNYAC overall, SUNYAC meet and program records in the event.
 
The former SUNYAC overall mark of 3:05.80 was set by the SUNY Cortland foursome of Dylan Burns, Reeve Callen, Mark Hanifin and Luke Strothenke in 2015. The former SUNYAC meet record of 3:06.14 was set by the SUNY Geneseo quartet of Yonghoon Jun, Jordan Gay, Tyler Roth and Kenny Athans in 2014. The former program record of 3:09.09 was set by the relay team of Paul Strothenke, Paul Robbins, Mark Schoenherr and Brian Hanratty back in 1984.
 
Furthermore, the Hawks' victory in the 400 freestyle relay marked New Paltz's first relay win at the conference meet since 2003.
  
In the first event of the evening, the 1,650 freestyle, sophomore Barrett Celecki (Barneveld, N.Y./Holland Patent) and junior Rob Cahn (Bellmore, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) finished third (16:51.70) and fourth (16:52.63), respectively, with Celecki's swim earning him Second-Team All-SUNYAC honors. Sophomore Matthew Kessler (Highland Mills, N.Y./Cornwall Central) and junior Thomas Whittico (East Lyme, Conn./East Lyme) also scored points for the Hawks in the event, placing 10th (17:21.72) and 14th (17:44.60), respectively.
 
Sophomore Marc Piliero (Peekskill, N.Y./Peekskill), the Hawks' lone entry in the 200 backstroke, qualified for the championship final in the event and wound up placing seventh (2:02.45).
 
Koenig and Kowalsky both made the top heat in the 100 freestyle, with Koenig finishing fifth (46.55) and Kowalsky placing sixth (46.79). Treadwell won the consolation final of the event, charting a ninth-place time of 47.17.
 
Senior Ryan Lindgren (Hurley, N.Y./Kingston) shaved more than a second off of his morning swim in the 200 breaststroke and ended up placing fourth with a time of 2:09.70, while sophomore Colin Duell (Glens Falls, N.Y./Glens Falls) also made the championship final and took eighth (2:15.33). In the consolation final, juniors Matt Alfultis (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) and Vitaut Gurskiy (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) and sophomore Chad Plante (Naples, N.Y./Naples) placed 11th (2:15.92), 12th (2:17.02) and 15th (2:20.55) overall, respectively.
 
Cooke picked up Second-Team All-SUNYAC laurels and broke a program record in his final individual race as a collegiate swimmer, clocking a third-place time of 1:56.67 in the 200 butterfly. That performance bettered the former program mark of 1:57.09 set by Rob Webb back in 2010. In the consolation final of the 200 butterfly, Cahn, sophomore Nick Wills (Stratford, Conn./Stratford) and freshman Joe Galante (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) finished 12th (2:02.27), 13th (2:02.35) and 15th (2:03.42) overall, respectively.
 
SUNY Geneseo captured its 23rd SUNYAC team title with 977 points, while SUNY Fredonia and Cortland placed third (454) and fourth (414), respectively. SUNY Oneonta (fifth, 355), SUNY Oswego (sixth, 268), Buffalo State (seventh, 244), SUNY Potsdam (eighth, 187) and The College at Brockport (ninth, 166) rounded out the remainder of the field. Notably, New Paltz now leads Oneonta, 17-16, in the Catskill Cup standings based on its finish above the Red Dragons in the final team standings.

Geneseo's Andy Schunk was honored with the SUNYAC's James Fulton Award, which is given to a male senior for academic and athletic excellence. Buffalo State's Connor Mergler was named the Swimmer of the Meet, Fredonia's Arron Carlson was named the Diver of the Meet, Geneseo's Paul Dotterweich was named the Coach of the Year and Geneseo's Shawn Austin was named the Diving Coach of the Year.