TROY, NY — The SUNY New Paltz men’s swimming team competed at the Kumpf Invitational, hosted by Rennsselaer Polytechnic Institute, this afternoon. The Hawks placed fourth out of seven teams, with 241 team points.
Sophomores John Fleckenstein (Port Jefferson, NY) and Nick Johnson (Highland Mills, NY) paced SUNY New Paltz with some strong finishes. Fleckenstein brought home the Hawks’ top finish grabbing fourth place in the 200-yard backstroke (2:04.57). Later, Fleckenstein joined teammates; freshman Kevin Kent (Beacon Falls, CT), sophomores Brendan Lown (Bohemia, NY), and Mike Demerest (Long Beach, NY) for a fifth place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:29.89. Johnson also had success in both his individual and relay events. With a time of 2:22.39, Johnson finished sixth in the 200-yard breaststroke, junior Danny Lo (Toms River, NJ) followed in seventh (2:23.01). Johnson teamed with senior Jeff Melton (Acworth, GA), and freshmen Chris Smith (Suffern, NY) and Chad Santa Maria (Rexford, NY) for a sixth place finish in the 400-yard medley relay (3:53.90) to open this afternoon’s invitational.
Santa Maria provided two top-ten finishes in his individual events, as a team SUNY New Paltz placed a swimmer in the top-ten in 9-of-11 events. He placed seventh in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:55.85) and the 100-yard freestyle (57.73). Smith swam eighth in the 200-yard butterfly (2:12.91). Kent and Melton each recorded a top ten finish for the Hawks as well. Kent took ninth place in the 500-yard freestyle (5:27.71) and 11th place in the 200-yard freestyle (1:58.42), while Melton placed ninth in the 50-yard freestyle (23.76). In the 200-yard individual medley, Lo swam to an 11th place finish with a time of 2:12.42.
The SUNY New Paltz men’s swimming team will compete next when the Hawks host Stevens Tech. on Wednesday, January 18 at 3:00 pm.
