The Oswego State men’s and women’s diving teams wrapped up their seasons on Saturday, Feb. 1 with a dual-meet against SUNY Potsdam. It was senior day at the Laker Hall pool and both teams ended their regular seasons with wins.
For the men’s team, it was a 176-101 win. The Lakers won 12 of the 16 events, with an all-senior medley relay squad of Ryan Kreuser, Austin Bull, Nick Weber and Alex Davie kicking off the meet with a victory. Weber and Davie also ended their home careers with individual wins in the 1,000-yard freestyle and 50-yard freestyle, respectively.
The women’s team also defeated the Bears with a 166-117 score. Seniors Julia Lamb and Kayla Merrill captured the 1,000-yard freestyle and 200-yard IM. Although swimming is not like any other team sport in terms of momentum, it was important for both teams to finish their seasons strong.
“It’s always good to have a strong meet at the end of the year,” head coach Mike Holman said. “It doesn’t necessarily matter all that much in swimming, but in any sport, positive momentum is good.”
Next up for both teams is the SUNYAC Championships, which take place from Wednesday, Feb. 19 until Saturday, Feb. 22 at Erie Community College. Unlike most meets which are one or two days long, SUNYAC Championships are a four day grind. Nonetheless, Holman believes both his teams are ready.
“It’s pretty spread out for each individual,” Holman said. “We train long enough and hard enough where a four-day meet isn’t a big deal. Physically it’s not a big deal, but mentally it can be tough. Our philosophy is you do the work during the season and that should take care of it. You don’t think about day four on day one.”
Last season, both teams finished in the top three, with the men’s team finishing in second place and the women’s team in third. The men’s team was in a fight for second place down the stretch, finishing with 526 points. Third place SUNY Cortland ended just one point shy, at 525 points.
“I do worry because I’m a coach, I stress out about everything,” Holman said. “But we definitely have strengths in different spots. Last year, we went into the last relay thinking there’s no way we can catch Cortland and our diver ends up jumping up four spots. Sometimes it just plays out that way, and we beat them by one point. It should be a similar meet this year.”
One of the most interesting parts of the SUNYAC Championships is the acceptance of aiming for second place. The SUNY Geneseo men’s team has won six straight SUNYAC titles. Last season, Geneseo finished the weekend with 951.5 points, 425.5 points better than second place Oswego State.
“The battle for second place for the men should be close,” Holman said. “On paper we line up third, but I’m hoping that we put everything together. It was the same thing last year, on paper we were third or fourth and finishing second was great.”
For the women’s team, things become a bit more complicated. Last season, the Lakers finished third in the SUNYAC championships, their best finish since second place in 2008-09. Oswego State believes it has the talent to capture third place, but has been devastated by injuries and illness. Eleven athletes between the two teams came down with mono this season, with the majority being on the women’s team.
“We’ve been decimated this year by injuries and illnesses, so we’re still not fully healthy on the women’s side,” Holman said. “I really don’t know what we have. Between third and fifth [place] could be determined by fractions of a second.”
SUNY Geneseo women’s swimming and diving has won 27 SUNYAC championships overall, including 12 straight. The dominance of the Knights has led the Lakers to aim for second and third place finishes. This week and a half before SUNYACs could determine how healthy the women’s team is when SUNYACs begin.
“SUNYACs have been our focus since day one,” Holman said. “It’s do or die.”
Photo by Ben Grieco | The Oswegonian
