After some of the best seasons in program history, the Oswego State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams started competition in the SUNYAC championships on Feb. 21 at Erie Community College in Buffalo.
The men’s team finished with a 10-0 regular season, including a big win over the Rochester Institute of Technology on Oct. 18 by a score of 122-119. According to head coach Mike Holman, it should give the team confidence, but a championship meet is very different from a regular season dual meet.
“We’ve raced really well. We had a lot of close meets,” Holman said. “We got the job done. Hopefully they’re going to take that confidence into the SUNYACs.”
Holman is hoping for strong performances from JJ Alaniz, who swam in the individual medley and breaststroke events all season. The San Antonio, Texas, native is one of the top recruits for the swimming program due to his incoming talent, according to Holman.
“He’s got a handful [of events] that we’re choosing from,” Holman said. “We know he’s doing the 200 IM the first day.”
Another swimmer expected to have strong performances is Alex Davie. After two top-10 finishes at the 2017 SUNYACs, the sophomore from Rome, Italy, wants to get a top-five finish in at least one of his events.
“I’d like a 20-point in the 50 freestyle,” Davie said. “To have the school record under my name would be nice.”
Before the championship meet, the team is projected to finish in fourth place. Second place is not impossible, however, depending on how the team performs during the actual meet. SUNY Geneseo, who has won the last 18 of 19 SUNYAC championships, is out of reach, according to Holman.
“Second place is not out of reach, but the team is going to really have to step it up,” Holman said. “It’s kind of nice to be a little bit of an underdog, but at the end of the day, we’re looking for best times for each individual.”
The women’s team finished 8-2 on the season after going .500 during the 2016-2017 season. The campaign was capitalized with a close win over SUNY Oneonta on Oct. 21 with a 128-115 win over the Red Dragons.
“Our focus … on our women’s side is that we’re small, and we’ve had some unfortunate injuries at the end of the year,” Holman said. “If they perform really well, fifth place is in reach.”
Riley Synan, who finished in second place in both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly at SUNYACs during the 2017 championship, is a swimmer to watch this year, according to Holman. He also thinks she is capable of winning both events in the coming week.
“I’m hoping to win the [200 butterfly],” Synan said. “The 100 fly is a hard competition this year, so just a personal best would be good.”
On Feb. 21, the lone men’s diver for the Lakers competed both in the men’s 3-meter diving preliminaries and finals. After a fourth-place finish in the preliminaries with a score of 403.20, senior Luke Snyder came in fifth for the final with a score of 409.50.
The 800 men’s freestyle relay team for the Lakers came in sixth place in the final with a time of 7:04.81. The four-man relay consisted of Alaniz, Davie, Daniel Rodriguez and Nicholas Weber. They were right behind SUNY Fredonia, who came in at 7:04.50.
The 800 women’s freestyle relay team for Oswego State also came in sixth place with a time of 8:13.01. The team consisting of Synan, Lok Chi Hon, Kayla Merrill and Emily Ross dropped a little more than 18 seconds off of their seed time coming into the event. They finished a mere two seconds ahead of the College at Brockport who finished at 8:14.96.
On Thursday, Feb. 22, notable finishes were Rodriguez who claimed third in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4:44.29. Alaniz claimed fourth in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 1:54.67. For the women, Miranda Frascatore came in sixth in the 1-meter diving with an 11-dive score of 391.45.
At the end of the day, the Oswego State men’s team settled in third place with 179.5 points, and the women’s team held steady in sixth place with 109 points.
Photo Provided By Perkins via Sports Information
