The swimming and diving teams traveled to Ithaca College on Saturday for their final regular season meet of the season. The men finished the season on a seven-meet winning streak as they dominated the Bombers, winning by a score of 134-84. The women’s meet provided some final-race dramatics, but the ‘Jackets couldn’t seal the deal and finished on the short end of a 126-113 score.
The men cruised to a victory by winning nine of the 13 meet events. In a show of team depth, seven different swimmers placed first in individual events. Sophomore Michael Hoffman was a double winner, taking first in the 50-yard freestyle and the mixed 100-yard freestyle. In the mixed 100 free, junior Anthony Furstoss came in third with junior Jonathon Dennison right behind in fourth.
Sophomore Bruce Maki finished the regular season on a high note by claiming first place in the 1000 free. He has won every 1000 free race he has entered this season. Freshman Matt Kaule and Joe Subjeck placed third and fourth, respectively. Maki followed that performance up with a second place finish in the 400 individual medley, a race which was won by teammate senior Zach Freed. Freshman Danny Friel placed fourth in the race.
Rounding out the individual winners in the pool were junior Craig Matt in the 200 free and freshman Garrett Lam in the 100 backstroke. In the 200 free, Furstoss was third and freshman Tim Anderson took fourth. Two additional Yellowjackets placed well in the 100 back also, as freshman Dave Madar took second and freshman Patrick Messmer finished fourth.
The divers took care of business on the boards, as freshman Stephen Graves and sophomore David Mitsche finished 1-2 on the one-meter board. The roles were reversed on the three-meter board, with Mitsche first and Graves second.
The team finished the day by placing first and third in the 800 free relay. Matt, White, Freed and Dennison swam on the winning team, and the third place team included Kaule, Anderson, Furstoss and Subjeck.
The women’s team came into the final relay down just four points, 113-109. The winner of the 200 free relay would win the meet outright. The ‘Jackets ‘A’ team, consisting of freshman Nora Hoefer and seniors Karen Gromer, Michelle Gruen and Kari Joyce, stayed right with the Ithaca ‘A’ team throughout the race. It came down to the final length, but Joyce was touched out by Ithaca’s anchor swimmer, and the Bombers took the win.
Four swimmers took first in individual events for UR. Joyce won the 100 free, while freshman teammate Libby Cavagnaro took fourth. Hoefer placed first in the 100 back, with senior Mary Carol Karl fourth. Gruen and junior Danielle Scherry went 1-3 in the 1000 free, and Gromer rounded out the winners by taking the top spot in the 400 IM. Sophomore Megan Miller placed fourth in the event.
The biggest bright spot for UR was on the boards, where the senior women swept the podium in both events. Kara Nash won the one-meter board, followed by classmates Shannon Kahabka in second and Nancy Tremblay in third. It was more of the same on the three-meter board, as Tremblay took first with Nash second and Kahabka third. The win was Tremblay’s eighth of the year.
Last Wednesday, the women caught a bus to Geneva, NY to take on William Smith College. The Herons were no match for UR, as the visiting Yellowjackets rolled to a 166-76 victory. For the meet, UR claimed 10 out of 13 event wins and missed out on two more by just hundreths of a second.
Again, the divers were in top shape as the three seniors swept the top spots in both events. First through third went to Nash, Tremblay and Kahabka, respectively, on the one-meter board. On the three-meter board, Tremblay secured first place, followed by Kahabka in second and Nash in third.
The swimmers were in top form as well, with two women claiming multiple individual event wins. Joyce took first in the 200 IM and the 100 back.
The ‘Jackets claimed all three podium spots in the 200 IM, with Kelly Fischer placing second and Sara Tomaski in third.
The other double winner for UR was Gromer, who won the 500 free as well as the 100 breaststroke. Hoefer was right behind in the 500 free, finishing just three seconds off of Gromer’s pace.
In the 200 free, Gruen took first with Scherry third. Cavagnaro won the first individual event of the day, the 1000 free. Senior Sonja Brun placed second and Karl was third.
The Yellowjackets continued their success by winning both relays. In the 200 medley relay, Karl, Fischer, Gromer and Joyce teamed up to claim the top spot. The 200 free relay team of Hoefer, Brun, Cavagnaro and sophomore Jill Endres dominated the Herons, beating the closest William Smith team by almost nine seconds.
Two other races could easily have gone UR’s way. The 100 fly provided some drama, as Scherry battled with her opponent right to the wall but finished four-hundredths of a second behind. In the next race, the 100 free, Gruen was edged out by even less – just three-hundredths of a second.
The men finish the regular season with a stellar 7-1 record in dual meets, as well as a Liberty League title. The women posted an impressive 6-3 mark, including a second place finish at the Liberty League Championships. The teams have a week off before heading to Case Western Reserve University for the University Athletic Association Championships, which starts on Feb. 7 and runs through Feb. 10.
Moeller is a member of the class of 2009.
