After third-place finishes in the Cortland relays for the men’s and women’s swimming teams on Saturday, Oct. 21, the former dropped their meet 167-113 at Hartwick College on Saturday, Oct. 28, while the latter captured a 158-122 victory.
The men won seven of their events, kicking the day off with a win in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of fourth-years Caleb Treadwell and Chad Plante and second-years Cooper Knapp and Konstantin Lomeyko finished at a time of 1:38.86, which head coach Tom Eickelberg was happy to see.
“That’s a historical midseason time for the 200 medley,” he said.
The aforementioned Knapp finished first in three individual events: the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.44), the 200-yard backstroke (1:59.96) and 200-yard individual medley (1:58.70).
Treadwell touched the wall first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.73, while Lomeyko clocked in first in the 200-yard butterfly at 2:05.62.
Eickelberg said that while the men’s side was missing some swimmers due to illness or other sports commitments, the team is on the upswing.
“In distances, we have shown weaknesses but we are coming up,” he said. “And the strokes we have are a strength of SUNY New Paltz swimming as well.”
On the women’s side, the Hawks captured victories in 11 of their events.
First-year Lindsay Kranitz clocked a time of 1:11.87 in the 100-yard backstroke for her first career win.
Third-year Jaimie Kaefer won three individual wins, including the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:01.41, the 500-yard freestyle clocking in at 5:29.79 and the 200-yard individual medley touching the wall at 2:14.59. She was also on the team that recorded a win in the 200-yard medley relay along with Kranitz, second-year Chelsea Angulas and third-year Nicole Lee (1:54.12).
“Hartwick scored diving against us, but we still managed to win by 35 points,” Eickelberg said.
He added that the teams are just trying to have fun and race within themselves. However, it runs deeper than just swimming.
“I want to make them better people and tell them to do three things well: be a student first, be a good student athlete and enjoy your personal life,” he said.
The teams will next take on Purchase College in Elting Pool on Friday, Nov. 10 at 5:30 p.m.