Last one fast one! Cortland’s Swimming and Diving team finishes their season placing 2nd out of the seven teams in the conference on both the men’s and women’s side at their SUNYAC championships.
Cortland was pumped up and ready to swim as they arrived in Buffalo Tuesday night for an eventful four-day swim meet filled with outstanding swims, high energy, and broken records. The meet started off Wednesday afternoon with the 800 free relay and 200 medley relay.
Cortland started off strong in the men’s 200 medley relay and placed 3rd with a time of 1:34.54 and the women’s 200 medley relay also finished 3rd with a time of 1:49.54. The men’s and women’s 800 free relay both placed 2nd.
The team was loud and proud as they cheered on their teammates for the next three days. With their high energy and strong determination, Cortland came out of the pool with records broken.
Sophomore Kellen Dickman placed 2nd in the 100 Butterfly and achieved his goal of breaking the 14-year-old school record with a time of 50.00 and is already excited to see what else he has in store for next season.
“I was definitely excited to get the record at prelims. Seeing a record from 14 years ago finally come down felt like my work this season was finally paying off,” Dickman said. “I’d say the team as a whole performed exceptionally well, with multiple other records being broken and many best times. Next year, I’d like to accomplish what I didn’t at finals and be sub 50 in the 100 fly.”
Junior Leah Bernhardt placed 3rd in the long and tough race of the 1,650 yard freestyle with a time of 18:06.70 and broke the school record in the 1,000 yard freestyle within that same race. She also placed 1st in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:03.34 and 2nd in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:54.76.
“Last season I felt that was never going to get those times that I swam my freshmen year. When I was swimming my mile and I looked up to see my 1,000 split and that I broke the record, I felt accomplished…” Bernhardt said, “After I won my 500 free, I couldn’t believe in that moment that I got first. Overall, everyone has worked hard throughout the season, and it showed in their races.”
Senior Hunter Bernhardt placed 2nd in both of his distance events, the 500yard freestyle with a time of 4:45.61 and the 1,650yard freestyle with a time 4:37.00. Hunter also placed 3rd in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:42.13.
Julia Bryce put up a strong fight and placed 3rd in the 200-yard butterfly with a quick time of 2:13.25.
Cortland not only put-up tough competition in their individual events but also kept it strong in the rest of the relays on the women’s and men’s side. The men’s 200 free relay placed 2nd with a time of 1:23.23. The women’s 200 free relay placed 3rd with a time of 1:40.11.
In the 400 medley relay the men came in with a time of 3:30.05 and the women came in with a time of 4:03.62 placing them both in the 3rd place.
For arguably one of the most exciting and loudest relays of the meet that concluded the meet is the 400Free relay. The men’s relay placed 3rd with a time of 3:08.36 as well as the women with a time of 3:41.80.
After an exciting, thrilling meet and a loud environment filled with cheering, the Cortland swim team was clearly a dominant force in the pool having multiple swimmers placed in the A finals top 8 in almost all individual events. Head Coach Brian Tobin was satisfied and pleased with the team’s performance at this year’s SUNYACS.
“We had a number of outstanding performances. Our team members worked very hard all season, and it was great to see it pay off. Of course, there were a couple that may not have performed as well as they could have. And it’s incumbent upon the coaches and the athletes to analyze what happened…” Tobin said, “so we can come back and be stronger next year. But that is part of the learning experience in college athletics- encountering challenges and overcoming them.”
Congratulations on another season in the books!