ITHACA, N.Y. – The defending Liberty League Champion Ithaca College women's swimming and diving team is back in action for the 2019-20 slate on Saturday with a home meet against Fredonia, Brockport and Buffalo State.
 
SWIMMING
 
The Bombers return a solid group of last year's championship team, including junior Morgan Hoffman-Smith. Since the start of her career on South Hill, she has been a staple for the Bombers. Last season, Hoffman-Smith finished second in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle as well as fifth in the 200 freestyle at the Liberty League Championships. She also broke the program record in the 1,650 freestyle earlier in the season.
 
Senior Ashley Warren returns for her final season as the top breaststroker for the Bombers while senior Paige Landers will be one of IC's top options in the backstroke and freestyle. Despite being abroad for the first semester last year, Landers made a huge impact upon her return.
 
Junior Gabrielle Humphrey, who is a breaststroker for the Bombers, will be looked upon to score points for IC during the first semester, before traveling abroad during the spring semester.
 
Olivia Schlackman, a sophomore, had a very solid first season on South Hill last year. She had a pair of third-place finishes in the 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly, as well as a sixth-place finish in the 400 IM.
 
Senior Tori Eastham will be called upon to swim the mid-distance freestyle and butterfly this season while Angelina Domena will look to fill some of the gaps in the sprint, as IC lost some of its top sprinters to graduation.
 
The Bombers boast a senior class of ten, eight of which are swimmers.
 
Maura Beutel will continue swimming distance for IC in her final season while Kaitlyn Scott will be switching things up. For the last three years, Scott has been a butterflyer for the Bombers, but she will be moving back to the breaststroke this year.
 
Alex Estanislau will compete in the butterfly and Emma Whitney rounds out the group of senior swimmers as a backstroker and butterflyer.
 
The Bombers have just three junior swimmers this season. In addition to Hoffman-Smith and Humphrey, Cody Conte will continue to swim distance in their third year on South Hill.
 
Ithaca returns a talented group of sophomores, including Jesse Ford, who had a solid first year at Ithaca. Ford finished seventh in the 100 butterfly and eighth in the 100 freestyle at last year's Liberty League Championships.
 
Head Coach Paula Miller will also look to Josie Michaels and Karolina Baranowski to fill in some of the gaps that the Bombers have in the breaststroke and IM after strong seasons last year.
 
Marley Baum, Alyssa Greaney, Kelcie McNamara and Emilee Murray round out the group of returning sophomores who will look to build upon the points they scored during the 2018-19 season.
 
IC has a large group of 15 first-years this season, including 12 swimmers.
 
"We have a solid group coming back but the big impact this year is going to be the freshmen," said Miller. "We have a total of 15 freshmen. This Saturday we are going to discover where our strengths are."
 
One of the top freshmen on South Hill this year will be Jane Pfeufer, who will be called up to swim freestyle, backstroke and butterfly. Julia Young is a backstroker while Emily Shorb will swim distance for the Bombers.
 
Emily Vandersleen will compete in the butterfly and freestyle while Katie Krom is set to compete in the backstroke, IM and freestyle. Alison Branch will freestyle for the Bombers and will be looked upon to contribute points in her first year. Margaret Fox and Erin Kiley are also both first-year freestylers.
 
Identical twins Anna Rubino and Olivia Rubino will both be solid freestylers for the Bombers, and will also swim backstroke. Rounding out the first-year swimmers are Taylor Shene and Josephine Holman, who both swim freestyle.
 
DIVING
 
Ithaca has several divers returning to the pool for the 2019-20 season.
 
Junior Ava Lowell, who did not finish last season due to an immersion program, returns to South Hill this season.
 
"Ava is coming back looking very strong, taking that top spot for the team currently," said Diving Coach Chris Griffin.
 
Although the Bombers will not have national diver Jocelyn Pawcio this year, who will be studying abroad and returning to the boards next season, they also return senior Amanda Giarratano and junior Malia Farrar. Farrar is wrapping up her fall study abroad trip and will return to the team in January.
 
Additionally, IC has brought in a promising group of newcomers, including three first-years and one transfer from women's soccer. First-years Eliana Wallock, Karalyn Pawcio and Rachel Lange as well as junior Lindsey Duhamel will look to compete and score points for IC this season.
 
"We are definitely in a growing year," said Griffin. "We have lost a lot of our top end that we have been relying on for the last few years, but the future looks very, very bright. We are trying to establish ourselves as one of the premiere diving programs in the country. Our crews that have graduated in the past have made that initial mark and now everyone's got to step up and maintain."
 
Ithaca's meet against Fredonia, Brockport and Buffalo State is set for a 1 p.m. start time in Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium inside the Athletics and Events Center.