ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Empire 8 announced its Ahletes of the Week early Monday afternoon, honoring freshmen Grace Ayer and Nickie Griesemer in the process. Both were honored after earning individual awards at the UNYSCSA / Empire 8 Championships last week.

Ayer earned the top spot in the 200-yard individual medley, pacing the field with a time of 2:05.13. Ayer's time met the NCAA B qualifying standard and marked the second fastest in program history. She helped set a program record in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as the group placed second overall with a time of 1:36.55 on the first day of the UNYSCSA / Empire 8 Championships. She finished first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.59, ranking second in program history and meeting the NCAA B qualifying standard. The Bombers also finished first in the 800-yard freestyle relay, as Ayer and her team took the top spot with a time of 7:44.61 on day two of competition. The finish earned the group all-state honors, and marked the third fastest finish in Bomber history. She capped off the meet with another first place finish in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing in a time of 2:03.49. Her time marked a new Ithaca program record and a NCAA B cut.

Griesemer finished third in the women's 1-meter dive on the second day of competition, earning a score of 475.20 in the preliminaries and a score of 474.50 in the finals. As a team, the Bombers dominated in the 3-meter dive, taking the top three spots to complete Ithaca's sweep of all diving events for the meet. Griesemer placed first with a score of 541.00 to set a championship record.