The men's and women's swimming and diving teams finished victorious in Hamilton last Saturday, both winning all three dual meets. The Hamilton-hosted meet included invitees Hartwick and Ithaca, as well as Geneseo.
The women's team has a flawless 5-0 record after a 143-91 win over Hamilton, a 125-102 victory against Ithaca, and a commanding 147-95 conquest of Hartwick. In the men's division, the Blue Wave mirrored the women's success; they defeated the host Continentals by a score of 135-70, Hartwick 122-109, and Ithaca 131-91, thus propelling the men's team to a 5-0 record as well.
In the women's division, the 400 medley relay team, consisting of senior Lindsay Fial, sophomore Jessie Cocco, freshman Natalie Thorpe and junior Maren MacDonald, took a firm grip of first with a time of 4:10.58. The other relay event, the 400 yard freestyle, saw Geneseo take second with a time of 3:47.82, bested only by Ithaca's 3:44.86. Geneseo's freestyle relay team consisted of first-years Katie Linehan, Mae Lankes and Thorpe, and senior KC Monahan.
The Blue Wave saw a considerable amount of individual success as well. In the 50 yard freestyle event, Linehan finished first with a time of 26.04, followed by a pair of Ithaca swimmers. In the 200 yard IM, sophomore Lindsay Dressel edged out Ithaca sophomore Lauren Botterbusch with a time of 2:16.01, and in the 200 yard backstroke, Thorpe took first at 2:16.66.
Geneseo junior Justine Diaz finished second in the 1000 yard freestyle at 11:08.07, under Hartwick freshman Erin Gray's 10:59.87. Diaz also took second in the 500 yard free. Hamilton took the 200 yard butterfly with freshman Whitney Rosenbaum's time of 2:15.73, but Geneseo took the next three spots, with Dressel, Monahan and senior Amanda Cavarella rounding out the top four, respectively.
The men's team also took both of their relays. In the 400 medley relay, the team of seniors Phil Szrama and James Kallio and juniors Travis Brennan and Charlie Hake came in at 3:39.89. In the freestyle relay, Geneseo's time of 3:15.96 was enough for first. The team was composed of sophomores Sig Culhane and Clint Sugnet, senior Jerry Hinman and junior John Zolna. Kallio also gave Geneseo top honors in the 200 yard IM, with an imposing time of 2:03.27. He became one of two Geneseo double winners when he took the top spot in the 200 yard breaststroke at 2:12.88.
The Blue Wave dominated the 50 yard free, taking the top three spots. Zolna finished first at 21.81, followed by Hake at 22.02 and Hinman at 22.66. Zolna went on to win the 100 yard freestyle at 48.88, with Hinman coming in third with a time of 49.85, making Zolna the other double winner for the Blue Wave.
In the 200 yard freestyle, Culhane was just edged out by Hartwick junior Craig Leaness' time of 1:49.07. Geneseo first-year Sean Kennedy also settled for second in the 200 yard butterfly, finishing at 2:04.77. Hartwick senior Kurt Cedo's time of 2:02.46 was enough for top honors in that event.
In his seventh season as head coach of the Blue Wave, Paul Dotterweich was optimistic about his teams' performances. "I would say that the teams are performing very well for where we are in the season." He added, "They are a great group who enjoy the time they spend with each other and myself.
Dotterweich believes there is a key concept that factors into Geneseo's success. "Some teams will rest for the meet, but we are going to train hard through the meet and are more focused on making NCAA cuts and having personal best swims at the end of the year," he explained.
The Blue Wave don't see action until Friday, when they travel to Eisenhower Park for the ECAC Championships.