The New Paltz swimming team wrapped up their fall semester meets with a loss to Ramapo College, 272-243. However, the women put up one their best showings of the semester with first place finishes in 10 of the 14 events to earn them the 142-116 victory. The men did not see the same results, falling 156-101.
Some standout performers for the women’s side include fourth-year Nicole Lee, who racked up first place finishes in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyles with times of 25.51 and 57.32, respectively, earning her State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) swimmer of the week honors. Third-year Sarah Crespo followed Lee for second in both races with times of 26.85 and 59.08, respectively.
The lady Hawks continued to occupy the first and second place positions in their races as fourth-year Katie Donlevy added a victory of her own in the 200-yard free (2:02.23), with Lee following close behind with a time of 2:08.31. In the 100-yard backstroke, third-year Chelsea Angulas finished first with a time of 1:02.21 while second-year Tessa Griger followed in second at 1:03.64.
Second-year Lindsay Kranitz added two more first-place finishes for the women in the 100-yard (1:12.09) and 200-yard breaststrokes (2:36.48).
In the 1,000-yard freestyle, the women were able to come out with two of the top three finishes with a first place swim by fourth-year Whitney Knowlton-Wardle (11:51.11) and second place finish by first-year Grace Rocks (11:57.78).
The women’s side wrapped up their swims with a pair of relay victories in the 200-yard medley (1:56.02) and 200-yard freestyle (1:45.24) consisting of Crespo, Donlevy, Griger and Kranitz and Angulas, Crespo, Lee and Rocks, respectively.
“We may be a small team on the women’s side, but everyone on the team is really talented,” Knowlton-Wardle said. “There’s never any one person who doesn’t score points. Though we were spread thin, we have someone who specializes in every event.”
The men did not see as much success this week, amassing just two individual first place finishes and one relay victory.
The most impressive event for the men’s side was the 1,000-yard freestyle where first-year Ethan Bonney finished in first with a time of 10:33.85. Fourth-year Barrett Celecki came in second with a time of 10:49.86 while third-year Tim Stecher followed in third at 11:00.83.
Fourth-year Joe Galante added a victory in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:09.98. First-year Luke Gamboli and second-year Graham Cono finished close behind in second (2:16.59) and third (2:17.97), respectively.
The men were able to pull out a single group victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay including second-year Matthew Kessler, first-year Mitch Chappell, second-year Nolan West and first-year Jared Finn. The Hawks’ ‘B’ and ‘C’ relay teams followed in second and third, asserting their dominance over the Roadrunners’ ‘A’ team who came in fourth.
“We all agree that this semester has taken us to a level not many of us have ever reached in terms of fitness and toughness,” Finn said. “Going through all the hard practices together as a team brings us together as a family, so going into next semester, I think we can all be really confident in the work we put in and also just have fun with it.”
The Hawks will now head home for winter break before returning to action in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) on Friday, Jan. 11 at home against SUNY Cortland, followed by trips to Purchase College on Jan. 16 and Oneonta on Jan. 26.
“We’ve shown that we’ve got some real talent in our relays to possibly get first in our conference,” West said. “I’m really excited to see how our training trip in Florida over the end of winter break goes.”