Women’s Swimming in First After Day Two of 11th Annual Bomber Invitational

ITHACA, N.Y. – With the day split into three sessions that mimicked the Liberty League Championships, but condensed; swimming at 10 a.m., diving at 1 p.m. and then swimming again at 6 p.m., the Ithaca College women's swimming & diving team gained the lead after Day 2 of the 11^th Bomber Invitational. The Bombers racked up a total 1,206 team points as they surpassed Hamilton College on the day who now sit in second with 1,020 followed by Vassar (817.5), the University of Rochester (678) and Le Moyne (435) who sit in fifth of the 10 schools competing.

Swimming- Morning Session

The team of Sonia Mlakar, Abigail Ignagni, Jane Pfeufer and Emily VanderSleen began the day off with a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay, swimming to a time of 1:35.82.
First year Angela Merch was the top finisher for the Bombers in the 400-yard IM, taking home another first-place finish with a season best time of 4:39.02. It was a one-two finish in the 100-yard butterfly eith Mlakar besting her teammate Emily VanderSleen in a photo finish. Mlakar touched the final wall in 56.06, while VanderSleen put together a time of 56.02.
The Bombers had their top finisher in the 200-yard freestyle represented by Josephine Holman who finished sixth with a season-best time of 1:57.99.
IC's "A" Team of Sonia Mlakar, Abigail Ignagni, Emily VanderSleen, and Jane Pfeufer teamed for the first-place finish in the 400 medley relay. The foursome finished the event in 3:55.26, as Hamilton saw their relay squad finish second with a time of 3:56.17.

Diving- Afternoon Session

It was a neck-and-neck on the 1-meter board as Karalyn Pawcio took home first by a score of 477.70. She just edged out Nazareth's Alexa Rizzo who finished with 477.35. Abby Marraccino (476.75) finished third followed by Rachel Lange (464.10) and Lizzy Tripp who finished fifth with a total score of 444.10 from Nazareth.

Swimming- Evening Session

Caroline Armistead took eighth place in the 200-yard butterfly as she was the top finisher for IC at 2:15.83.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Sonia Mlakar bested the competition by putting together a school record, which was a 56.31. She topped Grace Ayer who swam a 56.37 in 2017.
Abigail Ignagni was the top finisher in the 100 yard breaststroke with a sixth-place finish and a time of 1:08.25.
The Bombers relay squad took home first in the 800 yard freestyle relay with Josephine Holman, Angela Merch, Erin Kiley and Katie Champagne besting Hamilton as they produced a time of 7:51.09.

The Bombers are back in action tomorrow for the final day of competition of the 10^th Annual Bomber Invitational. Swimming is slated to resume at 9 a.m. with the 1,650 freestyle. That event will be followed by the 100-yard IM, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 200-yard breaststroke and 400-yard freestyle relay.