The men’s and women’s swim teams headed off to the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association Conference Championships with their eyes on glory last weekend.
Despite not grabbing the crown, the Yellowjackets were proud of their third and fourth place finishes.
“We swam very well for this time in our season,” junior Adam Simmons said. “Between our big meets and after Thanksgiving break, we were competitive in all of the events during the length of the tournament.”
Sophomore Mark Radloff’s hard work and dedication earned him two titles, the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events with 1:00.08 and 2:15.1 respectively.
Radloff was also sixth in the 200 IM with a 2:03.39 and seventh in 400-yard IM with a 4:32.36.
Aside from Radloff, “freshman Alex Provan had an outstanding meet,” head coach Julie Benker-O’Brien said. He had dropped “a great deal of time in all of his events.
The women showed off some talent as well.
“Senior Laura Vivier had huge drops in her 200-yard IM and 100-yard breaststroke,” Benker-O’Brien said.
Freshman Ann Richards also placed third in the 500-yard free with 5:20.9, fourth in the 200-yard free with 2:01.6, third in the mile with 18:45.84 and sixth in the 100-yard free with 56.93.
Junior Jacque Staple was also top five in all of her events.
At the end, on the men’s side, Hamilton College placed first, followed by Union College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The UR men placed fourth overall.
On the wo-men’s side of the deck, the Yellowjackets seized third, just two points behind second-place Union. Benker-O’Brien was pleased with the results.
“Teams performed well,” she said. “We swam hard and many were season’s best times.”
Although the men “did what [was] expected,” Benker-O’Brien thought that the “women would be competing more with Hamilton.”
Looking ahead, the Yellowjackets will test its endurance again with cross-town rival the Rochester Institute of Technology Saturday.
“That is always a good meet for us,” Benker-O’Brien said.
After RIT, UR will have about a two-week break over the holidays and then practice its “highest yardage” away from the Rochester blast, in Key West, Fla.
After the warm retreat, the Yellowjackets will face action again Tuesday, Jan. 15 against SUNY Geneseo.
“We are looking very good for the next semester, with good training behind us,” Benker-O’Brien said.
“The team is very supportive, making us that more excited for the rest of the season.”
Wu can be reached at jwu@campustimes.org.
