Saturday Results

BUFFALO – Senior Cassidy Griger (Cooperstown, N.Y./Cooperstown Central) became the sixth Grace Mowatt Award Winner in State University of New York at New Paltz women's swimming program history, as the Hawks finished second out of nine teams with 681 points 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.
 
The Grace Mowatt Award, whose namesake was a long-time swimming coach at SUNY Oswego and was a pioneer of women's swimming in the SUNYAC, is given annually to a senior female swimmer based on academic and athlete achievement throughout her collegiate career. Past New Paltz Grace Mowatt Award recipients include Jessica DiFabio (1998-99), Joanna Masterson (2005-06), Christine Rieth (2011-12), Yuka Suzuka (2012-13) and Chelsea Allocco (2013-14).
 
Griger's honor comes on the heels of her first SUNYAC title, which came in the 200 freestyle during Friday evening's finals. She qualified for the championship final in every event she swam during her four-year career at the SUNYAC Championships, and she is a two-time Second-Team All-SUNYAC honoree and picked up First-Team All-SUNYAC recognition this season. A biology major and 2012 graduate of Cooperstown Central High School, she is the daughter of David and Kristen Griger.
 
In the evening's first event, the 1,650 freestyle, junior Ann Fici (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) finished fifth with a time of 18:42.40. Coming out of the afternoon heats, freshman Whitney Knowlton-Wardle (Chatham, Mass./Nauset Regional) took eighth (18:57.65) to score championship-final points, while freshman Degen Mariniello (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) finished ninth (19:03.07) and sophomore Lindsay Feminella (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by-the-Sea) took 12th (19:15.03).
 
Freshman Jaimie Kaefer (North Bellmore, N.Y./W.C. Mepham) and senior Ella Graffin (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) both made the championship final of the 200 backstroke, with Kaefer touching fourth (2:09.30) and Graffin finishing eighth (2:14.73). In the consolation final, Feminella concluded her high-yardage day by placing 12th (2:19.05).
 
In the 100 freestyle, Griger snared runner-up honors—which would have accorded her Second-Team All-SUNYAC laurels had she not already made the First Team by virtue of her 200 freestyle win Friday night—with a time of 52.87, while sophomore Molly McCulloch (Rome, N.Y./Holland Patent) and freshman Kaleigh O'Halloran (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) touched sixth (54.19) and seventh (54.39). Coming out of the consolation final, junior Aimee Del Favero (Auburn, N.Y./Home School) posted a time of 55.09 to place 14th overall.
 
Freshman Katie Donlevy (Bayside, N.Y./The Mary Louis Academy) picked up First-Team All-SUNYAC recognition in the 200 breaststroke, as she won the conference title in the event with a 2:27.54. Sophomore Megan Joseph (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) and senior Casey O'Connor (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) also represented the Blue and Orange in the championship final, with Joseph finishing third (2:30.52) and O'Connor taking fifth (2:33.53). By virtue of Joseph's finish, she earns Second-Team All-SUNYAC honors. Senior Krista VerMeersch (Newark, N.Y./Newark) competed in the consolation final and placed 15th (2:39.41) overall.
 
Seniors Maggie Heaton (New Milford, Conn./New Milford) and Kim Kallansrude (Muttontown, N.Y./Jericho) both swam in the championship final of the 200 butterfly, as Heaton clocked in at 2:12.30 (fifth) and Kallansrude checked in at 2:16.27 (seventh). Freshman Samantha Conforti (Mohegan Lake, N.Y./Lakeland) won the consolation final of the event, posting a time of 2:17.03 to finish ninth overall.
 
Finally, in the meet's last event, the 400 freestyle relay squad of McCulloch, Donlevy, O'Halloran and Griger combined for a second-place time of 3:34.72.
 
SUNY Geneseo won its ninth straight and 24th overall team title with 964 points, while SUNY Cortland (third, 438) and SUNY Oneonta (fourth, 356.5) finished third and fourth, respectively. SUNY Fredonia (fifth, 294), Oswego (sixth, 250.5), The College at Brockport (seventh, 199), Buffalo State (eighth, 186) and SUNY Potsdam (ninth, 161) 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 finals team standings.
 
Geneseo's Hailey Modelewski was named the Swimmer of the Meet, Cortland's Miranda Fergus 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.