The Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks captured their fourth straight Empire 8 Conference Men’s Swimming & Diving title on Saturday.
Sophomore Connor Harrigan of Stevens claimed top billing in the 1,650 Freestyle in a B-cut time of 16:04.12, nearly 12 seconds in front of second-place finisher Hartwick junior Brendan Quinn (16:16.06, B-cut). Harrigan’s win marks the seventh time in the last nine years a Stevens’ swimmer has won the event. Fellow Duck Connor Arnott was third for the second straight year (16:18.70).
Junior Joseph Mulvehill of Hartwick was the top finisher in the 100 freestyle in a time of 46.52, just 0.12 seconds in front of Ithaca’s Addison Hebert (46.64). Ithaca freshman Aaron Levin earned the third spot in 47.01.
Hartwick’s Matt Plunkett repeated as the champion in the 200 Backstroke. The top three E8 finishers met NCAA B cut standards. Plunkett touched up in a new E8 meet record time of 1:47.76 with Nazareth senior Daniel Burke following him in 1:50.01. Stevens Ravi Sun, 2013 and 2014 champion, was third (1:51.32).
Stevens senior Dane Pilcher reclaimed the 200 Breaststroke title, previously winning in 2014, by just 0.04 seconds to edge out Nazareth sophomore Alex Lapoint. Pilcher swam the finals in 2:06.79 with Lapoint finishing in 2:06.83. Hartwick sophomore Joseph Moffitt took third (2:08.84).
For the fourth straight year and sixth time in seven years Stevens was the top 400 Freestyle Relay team. The quartet of Tommy Wolinski, Sun, Ethan Gehenio and Joshua Lefeber combined for a winning time of 3:03.93 to meet the NCAA B-cut mark. Hartwick took second (3:06.54) and Ithaca finished third (3:08.02).
The Empire 8 Conference Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship came to an end on Saturday at the Athletics & Events Center Aquatics Pavilion in Ithaca, NY.
Nazareth junior Cameron Hess won the title in the 1,650 Freestyle for the third straight year. Her time of 17:18.09 bested the NCAA B-cut mark. Ithaca junior Brenna Dowd placed second in the event (17:45.84) while Kimberly Pedrotti of Nazareth took third in 17:54.41.
Only .59 seconds seperated the top three finishers in the 100 Freestyle. Stevens freshman Courtney Jones touched first in 52.51 to edge teammate Jenn Rutledge who finished in 52.91. Jones’ win marks the third straight year and fifth time in six years that the E8 individual champion has been from Stevens. Ithaca junior Erin Hackett took third place (53.10).
For the third straight year, junior Grace Ayer took the top spot in the 200 Backstroke event. Ayer’s time was a B-cut mark of 2:04.50, a mere .31 seconds ahead of runner-up Hartwick senior Imma Rutigliano (2:04.81). Hartwick’s Helen Merkley took third place in 2:10.59.
Stevens sophomore Katie Prescott improved two spots from a year ago to win the individual title in the 200 Breaststroke with a B-cut time of 2:22.22. Freshman Laurie Prinz was second (2:27.30) with Ithaca freshman Hannah Parbst placing third (2:28.00).
In 3-meter diving, Ithaca sophomore Anna Belson completed the sweep of the diving events as she previously won the 1-meter board on Thursday. Her score in the 3-meter on the night was 482.80. Teammate Lindsey Suddaby took second with a score of 458.50 and ithaca sophomore Katie Helly rounded out the top three (433.60).
Wrapping up the championships was the 400 Freestyle Relay. Stevens took the crown for the eighth straight year. Sarah Jurczyk, Rutledge, Jones and Danielle Caruso combined for a B-cut time of 3:28.32. Ithaca took second (3:32.52) with Hartwick placing third (3:34.43).
Empire 8 contributed this report.
