ITHACA, N.Y. – The William Smith College swimming and diving team broke the school record in the 200-yard medley relay twice on the first day of the Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association (UNYSCSA) Championships at the Athletics & Events Center Aquatics Pavilion at Ithaca College.
In the morning preliminaries, first-year
Anna Leffler, senior
Caroline Conboy, sophomore
Nicole Katchis, and senior
Kelsey Bohl combined to clock in at 1:50.31. Their time was the seventh fastest of the morning session and qualified them for the evening's championship final. In their second swim of the day, Leffler, Conboy, Katchis, and Bohl touched the wall at 1:50.28, dropping their own school record by three-hundredths of a second. They placed seventh in the final. Leffler led off the relay with a 50 backstroke split time of 28.10. Her time matched Vibeke Hopkinson's 34-year old school record, the second oldest record on the board.
The Herons "B" relay powered by junior
Emily Haskins, sophomore
Kelley Mantz, first-year
Caroline Nash, and senior
Kelsey McElwain finished seventh among "B" relays with a time of 1:55.88.
Individually, William Smith qualified four swimmers for the finals in the 200 individual medley and one in the 50 freestyle. This morning, Conboy won her heat in the 200 IM, stopping the clock at 2:08.56, qualifying her for the championship final with the second fastest time. Leffler qualified for the consolation final with a time of 2:12.91. Katchis and Mantz advanced to the third level final, posting times of 2:19.04 and 2:19.12, respectively. In the 50, Bohl advanced to the third level final with a time of 25.52.
At the conclusion of the morning session, Conboy time trialed the 100 breaststroke, looking to improve on her NCAA "B" cut time she swam at the Liberty League Championships in December. She stopped the clock at 1:03.95, fifty-nine-hundredths of a second faster than her season best swim.
In the evening session, Conboy placed third overall in the 200 individual medley with a swim of 2:09.10. Leffler finished fifth in the consolation final, 13th overall, logging a time 2:13.98. Katchis and Mantz finished 23rd and 24th, respectively, to earn three points towards the team total. In the 50, Bohl finished 24th, stopping the clock at 25.86.
On the 3-meter diving board, sophomore
Therese Mandracchia posted a score of 325.50 to finish 15th overall.
Through the first day of the UNYSCSA Championships, William Smith sits in eighth place with 107 points. The Herons are 52 points behind seventh place Nazareth and 31 ahead of ninth place St. Lawrence. The UNYSCSA Championships will continue tomorrow at 10 a.m.
