The New Paltz Men’s and Women’s Swim Teams competed in their first dual meet of the season. On Saturday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m., the Hawks traveled to Hartwick to face the ‘other’ Hawks, as well as the Oneonta Red Dragons.
The women’s team showed true talent over the other teams. Their day kicked off with the 400-yard medley relay. Third-years Delilah Griger and Kelly Donlevy, first-year Alexandra Kassian and second-year Julia Iaboni competed, placing first with a time of 4:14.22, way ahead of the second place Hartwick Hawks.
Their dominance didn’t end there. Third-year Kirsten Giovanniello competed in the individual 200-yard freestyle and came in first place, with a time of 2:08.52. Giovanniello wasn’t the only one to place first in an individual competition; Kassian did as well, in the 100-yard breastroke. Her finishing time was 1:11.73.
The 200-yard butterfly consisted of the New Paltz Hawks taking first, second and third places. First-year Candela Sandoval placed first, followed by Giovanniello and first-year Angelina Somma.
Later on, Donlevy gave New Paltz another first place win in the 50-yard freestyle, taking just over 25 seconds to complete it. Donlevy came back again later on in the meet, winning first place again in the 100-yard butterfly. Kassian was also not done bringing in the first place wins, and came back in event 20, the 200-yard breaststroke, to win it all. Kassian additionally had the honor of giving New Paltz the final first place win of the day during the 200-yard individual medley.
With all these first place finishes, it’s clear to see why New Paltz came out on top. They dominated Oneonta 164-123, and silenced Hartwick 157-104: showing them who the real Hawks are.
The men’s team did not do as well, but there were still highlights of their day.
In the 100-yard backstroke, second-year Myles Dower and first-year Korey Barber finished back to back in second and third place, with times of 56.55 and 58.32, respectively. Second-year Mason Kennedy also placed second, in the 200-yard breaststroke. This was followed by third-year Owen Rowlands placing third in the same event.
Dower got another second place finish in the 200-yard individual medley.
New Paltz placed third in the 400-yard freestyle relay, but it wasn’t enough to give them the points they needed to defeat their opponents. In the end, Oneonta took them down 155-132, and Hartwick 145-137. Still, New Paltz wasn’t far behind, and the season is very early so there are plenty of opportunities for them to assert their dominance.
On Friday, Nov. 19, the teams are heading to Vassar College for a meet. After that, they are looking forward to the three day College of New Jersey Invitational where they hope to make more strides.
