They’re back. Who? The New Paltz Men’s and Women’s Swim Teams, of course. On Saturday, Oct. 30, the teams traveled to Cortland to compete in the “Pumpkin Relays.” Both teams took home second place, defeating Wells College.
The day consisted of 25 events and saw some New Paltz triumphs. The women took first place in the 400-yard medley relay. The team consisted of third-years Delilah Griger, Kelly Donlevy and Kathryn Kolar, as well as first-year Alexandra Kassian. They finished with a time of 4:15.98, bringing in 20 points for the Hawks.
Kolar said that she was happy to go back into the pool after a long time away, and that having a positive team and positive coaches will help the process of feeling good in the pool after a long time off.
“It was great to be a part of the winning relay event at the meet,” Kolar said. “Cortland is a very deep team that we will see again in January, and we hope to improve our performance against them when they visit our pool.”
They also competed well in the 650-yard freestyle relay, taking second and third place. The second place team saw first-year Candela Sandoval, second-year Julia Iaboni and Donlevy place with a time of 7:02.94, earning 17 points. First-year Angelina Somma, Kolar, Kassian and Griger came in just seconds later at 7:03.82 to give the Hawks 16 points.
“The freshmen are a very hard working group and they all bring a lot to the table,” Kolar said. “This year being my first year as well, I look forward to getting to know all of the freshmen better and becoming a family with them and everyone else on this team.”
Event number eight also brought another New Paltz victory. The 300-yard breaststroke relay saw Griger, Kassian and Kolar beating Cortland by seconds to tack on another 20 points. New Paltz also won the 20 points in the 300-yard butterfly relay and the 200-yard medley relay.
The women finished with 282 points, not too far behind Cortland’s 315, yet well ahead of Wells’ 56 points.
On the men’s side of things, Cortland consistently finished in first for most of the events, but New Paltz was always close behind. The points speak for themselves: the Hawks finished with 287, while Cortland finished at 310.
One of the men’s highlights was event 11, the 800 yard freestyle relay. First-years Steven Macaluso, Brandon Molina and Venn Engstrom and fourth-year Ethan Bonney finished in second place, earning 17 points, with a time of 7:56.10. In the same relay, second-years Myles Dower and Mason Kennedy, first-year Euan Barclay and third-year Zachary Brown came in third to tack on 16 more points for the Hawks.
The men also came in second in the 300-yard breaststroke relay and the 650-yard freestyle relay.
Overall, it was a successful season opener for the Hawks. Coming up, they will be facing Western Connecticut State in Danbury, on Saturday, Nov. 6.
“You can expect a hard working team that will give everything they have for practice and every meet, with the help of our incredibly motivating coaches: Coach Matthew Distler and Coach Maggie Davenport,” Kolar said.
