Three SUNYAC Titles and Five Records Fall on Day Two at SUNYAC Swim

The 2009 SUNYAC Swimming Championships continued Friday in Buffalo and five varsity records were broken, one conference record and three SUNYAC titles were claimed. At the end of day two the women stand in third place with 384 points, behind Geneseo (602) and Oswego (398). The men also stand in third (355) behind Geneseo (618) and Cortland (405).

Junior Stephen Cozzolongo won the 100 fly (51.74) in varsity record time and won the 100 backstroke (52.67) breaking an 11-year old record in an NCAA provisional cut time. Senior Erica Ellis claimed her first individual SUNYAC crown by winning the 100 breaststroke (1:05.95) setting a new varsity and conference record in NCAA provisional cut time. Ellis also took fifth in the 100 fly (1:00.04) breaking her own varsity record.

The men’s 200 medley relay finished second in school record fashion breaking the seven-year mark in a time of 1:36.23. The quartet included Cozzolongo, Rob Webb, Dave Gardner and Billy Papetti. Gardner took third in the 200 freestyle (1:42.82) in an NCAA provisional time and Jesse Sweeny touched fourth in the 100 back (53.53). The Hawks finished fifth-seventh-eighth in the 400 IM. Zack Lowenstein took fifth (4:19.92), Marc Battisti touched seventh (4:21.20) and Andrew Outcault rounded out the top eight (4:22.28). Brian Bennett, Pete Nastasi, Pat Rathbun and Gardner teamed up for a third place finish in the 800 free relay (7:06.76).

The women’s 800 free relay of Allison Wells, Marissa Morris, Jessica Lester and Christine Rieth took second (7:49.78) in a new varsity record time and Bcut. The women’s 200 medley relay of Morris, Becky Baker, Ellis and Rieth took second in 1:48.00, an NCAA provisional qualifying time. Baker finished fifth in the 100 breast (1:06.89) and Joelle Hopf took sixth (1:06.93), both NCAA provisional times. The Hawks claimed three of the top eight finishes in the 200 freestyle relay, led by Morris who took third (1:53.10). Jessica Lester touched fifth (1:54.78) and Rieth claimed seventh (1:55.97), all three times were NCAA provisional cuts. Other top eight finishes for the women included Tiffany Sorrell who took sixth in the 400 IM (4:52.58) and Wells who took seventh in the 100 fly (1:01.87).

The championships will conclude on Saturday with the prelims at 10am and the finals set for 6pm.

For full results please visit http://www.starswimming.org/results/sunyac/index.htm