The SUNY New Paltz women’s swimming team ended up sinking to the bottom of their meet in Vassar College on Friday, placing third out of three teams.
The Lady Hawks went into the meet after a narrow 54-39 win against the Adelphi University Panthers on Nov. 9. They continued their road trip as they traveled to Poughkeepsie to engage in battle with the Vassar College Brewers and the Franklin & Marshall (F&M) College Diplomats in Vassar’s Kresge Pool.
The Brewers women were off to an impressive 3-1 start, but historically the Hawks performed well against them, with a 7-3 all-time record. F&C were even better, as the Diplomats began their season 4-1. The Pennsylvania private school only faced the Hawks once previously, winning against them in early 2018 with a 197-62 victory.
The tone of the meet was set early at the 200-yard medley relay as the Brewers won it with a time of 1:51.84. Despite their fastest time of the year, a blistering 1:53.94 for the event, a third place finish was all that third-year Tessa Griger, third-year Lindsay Kranitz, first-year Kelly Donlevy and fourth-year Chelsea Angulas could muster.
The following event, the 1,000-yard freestyle, was topped by Diplomats second-year Tara Kupsky with a time of 10:57.88. Hawks first-year Kirsten Giovanniello placed fourth with a time of 11:17.71, a personal best. Giovanniello also placed second in the 200-yard butterfly, posting a 2:17.38 effort.
However, it soon became evident that the Hawks weren’t performing as well as their opponents, with New Paltz struggling to earn top three finishes in any event.
Their possible points slipped further away as Donlevy placed fourth in the 200-yard freestyle, Angulas finished a respectable third in the 100-yard backstroke, and the 400-yard freestyle relay unfortunately gave them another fourth place finish with a time of 3:57.46.
Third-year Lindsay Kranitz won both of the only two races her team won at the meet. Their first win of the day came at the ninth event, the 100-yard breaststroke, when Kranitz posted a time of 1:11.04 to top the event’s leaderboard.
Kranitz also placed first at the 200-yard breaststroke, earning a time of 2:32.22. Her leading performances are no surprise, as she was named to the Second-Team All SUNYAC last season and was third overall in the SUNYAC Championship for the 100-yard breaststroke.
Despite the Hawks only winning two events, the meet was not without its little victories.
Griger covertly swam her way to some impressive times, as she set season-best times in both her 200-yard backstroke, where she placed fourth with a time of 2:16.91, and the 100-yard butterfly, where she placed seventh with a time of 1:03.70.
Unfortunately for New Paltz, the Division III powerhouses of Vassar and F&M ravaged the Lady Hawks. Vassar handed the ladies in blue and orange a decisive 203-76 loss, whilst F&C defeated New Paltz 166-100.
The Lady Hawks will look to turn their fortunes around in their return home on Friday at 6 p.m. against the Hamilton College Continentals, hosting their Green-Out Game in support of mental health awareness.
