ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's swimming & diving program got off to an outstanding start and lead after the first day of the 13
th Annual Bomber Invitational, in which they're hosting this weekend in the Kesley Partridge Bird Natatorium. The Bombers have racked up 273 team points and lead seven other institutions including Middlebury College (208), the University of Rochester (182), Hamilton College (142), Alfred University (83), Vassar College (80), Nazareth University (71) and Union College (50).
The Bombers were able to win the 3-meter diving relay with a finals score of 294.70, which edged out the University of Rochester who scored a 236.15.
The first swimming event of the Bomber Invite was the 800-yard freestyle relay that saw Hamilton College win with a finals time of 6:50.12. Ithaca's "A" relay squad of
Santiago Ludwig,
Will Stanczewski,
Kyle Kruppa and
Ryan Cooke were right on their tails throughout the relay and finished in second place with a time of 6:51.11. The Bombers "B" relay team of
Bennett Molitor-Kirsch,
Evan Wardrop,
Matthew Janssen and
James Kissel earned valuable team points, 50 to be exact with their fifth-place finish and time of 6:59.79.
The Bombers saw a one-two-three finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle with
James Kissel touching the final wall in first with a finals time of 16:24.05 and just over two seconds behind him in second was
Matthew Stevens at 16:26.89. Earning 27 team points and in third was first year
Bennett Molitor-Kirsch who recorded a season-best time of 16:28.51.
The invitational will resume at 9 a.m. with prelims in the 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, 400-yard IM and 50-yard freestyle with the finals then taking place later in the evening at 6 p.m. Diving will take place at 12:30 p.m. with the men competing on the 1-meter boards with the finals also taking place at 6 p.m. along with the 200-yard freestyle relay.
