ITHACA, N.Y. - The Ithaca College men's swimming and diving team surged to the top of the leaderboard on the opening day of the 14th Annual Bomber Invitational on Thursday, presented by The Hotel Ithaca inside the Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium. IC have amassed 865 points to hold a commanding lead over second-place Rochester (462), followed by Alfred University (311), Vassar College (251), Union College (219) and Hobart (208).
The Bombers opened the evening with a decisive win in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as Matt Mitros,
Alec Kutsner,
Ryan Cooke, and
Spencer Alderson combined for a time of 1:22.48. Mitros would later captured the 50-yard freestyle title in 20.26, leading a strong sprint group that placed five swimmers in the A-final.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Ithaca showcased its depth with five swimmers finishing in the top seven, led by sophomore
Bennett Molitor-Kirsch in second at 4:35.69.
James Kissel touched second with a time of 4:38.58, followed by senior
Ryan Cooke (4:40.73). The Bombers dominated the 200-yard IM, where freshman
Ben Hurty claimed victory in 1:54.99, followed closely by teammate
Ben Lajoie in second who touched at 1:55.04.
The night concluded with another relay triumph, as Ithaca's quartet of Kutsner,
Will Stanczewski, Mitros, and Cooke won the 400-yard medley relay in 3:21.88.
On the boards, senior
Kian Long delivered a standout performance, winning the 3-meter diving event with 513.95 points, while Andrew Cheely and
Ignacio Fernandez-Manzano added valuable points with top-six finishes.
The invitational will resume at 9 a.m. on Friday with prelims in the 400-yard IM, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, "B and C" final of the 800-yard freestyle relay with the finals then taking place later in the evening at 6 p.m., along with the "A" final of the 800 freestyle relay. 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.
