The State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz’s men’s and women’s swimming teams each suffered their first losses of the season this past Saturday at home against the coincidentally named Hartwick College Hawks.
The swimming teams opened their season in Cortland on Oct. 26, with the women’s team placing fourth of seven schools while the men placed third of six schools. The meet against Hartwick was the first regular season meet at home, not counting the alumni meet held on Oct. 12.
The meet’s first event was the men’s 200-yard relay, which Hartwick won with a time of 1:39.85, gaining 11 points. New Paltz came in second, earning four points with a time of 1:42.44. Following that, the women took to the water in the same event, this time with New Paltz getting the victory and earning their first set of 11 points for the day. Fourth-year Chelsea Angulas, third-year Lindsay Kranitz, third-year Tessa Griger and first-year Kelly Donlevy topped the event board with a time of 1:54.19.
The men earned their first-place finish in the next event, as second-year Ethan Bonney came out on top and earned nine points in the 1,000-yard freestyle. An additional notable event was the Lady Hawks securing a 1-2-3 finish in the 100-yard backstroke, with Angulas placing first, followed by fourth-year Samantha Woll and first-year Delilah Griger, respectively.
The men’s team picked up victories in the 200-yard intermediate medley, with Owen Rowlands securing nine points, and a 1-2 finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay, winning a valuable 15 combined points between the two relay teams.
Unfortunately, Hartwick asserted their dominance in New Paltz’s waters, winning 20 of the meet’s 26 events. The day concluded with a 156.5-100.5 loss for the men’s team and a tighter 142-119 loss for the Lady Hawks.
“We didn’t present ourselves with the attitude or mindfulness that we needed to regarding racing as a privilege,” said Head Swimming Coach Tom Eickelberg. “I think we squandered an opportunity to do the thing we look forward to the most.”
Despite the disappointing losses, there were bright spots for the women’s rookies. Dunlevy got a personal best time in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 2:03.92, a two-second improvement. Additionally, first-year Kiersten Giovanniello swam to a 11:21.35 1,000-yard freestyle, a time that hasn’t been seen at a home meet in three years.
“Right now, our goal is to always get new names on the record board,” Eickelberg said. “Our goal here is to make sure that people are reflecting that exceptional improvement rate we’ve come to expect here at SUNY New Paltz. We have the best improvement rate in the conference.”
The swim teams will hit the road for the second time this season on Saturday, traveling to Garden City to take on the Adelphi University Panthers at 1 p.m.
