ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's swimming and diving program claimed its sixth consecutive Liberty League Championship as they once again showcased the programs depth, speed, and diving talents across the four-day meet. The Bombers cruised to the team title as they finished with 1,700 and a margin of victory of 220.5 points ahead of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), who finished second with 1,479.5.
 
For the second-straight season Kailee Payne was recognized as the Diver of the Meet after earning victories on both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards. The returning National Champion in both events, once again dominated as she posted a finals score of 544.65 earlier in the meet and then followed it up with a finals score of 558.95 on the 3-meter boards on Saturday evening. Finishing in second and third for the Bombers with equally impressive finals scores were Angela Burke (531.95) and Jenell Slesser (477.95).
 
The first event was the most grueling of the meet, the 1,650 was won by first year Gwenyth Snyder, who recorded a time of 17:46.72. The top Bomber finisher was Caroline Armistead who posted a 17:58.46 who touched the final wall in fifth place. RPI's Shannon Brown was named the Swimmer of the Meet, repeating as the champion in the 100-yard freestyle. She achieved an NCAA B-cut, championship, and association record time of 51.38. Ithaca's Elke Beaumont finished in sixth place with a time of 52.96.
 
The Bombers really showcased its talents in the final two individual events. Sophomore Samantha Bender won her first title of the championships besting the field in the 200-yard backstroke 2:05.72, finishing just over a second ahead of runner-up RPI sophomore Caroline Steeves (2:06.92). It was followed up by first year Sydney Koehler claiming the title in the 200-yard breaststroke. She continued to make an immediate impact with a finals time of 2:20.86, shaving off her prelim time of 2:21.30. Finishing in third place for Ithaca was fellow first year Claire Weppler (2:22.47).
 
The RPI Engineers ended up posting an impressive NCAA B-cut time of 3:26.67 in the 400-yard freestyle relay taking home first place. The Bombers "A" relay consisted of Elke Beaumont, Sydney Koehler, Spencer Carroll and Samantha Bender as they finished in second recording a time of 3:31.45.

The Bombers will continue postseason events with regionally qualified divers first competing in the upcoming NCAA Regional slated to begin February 28-March 1, which will be hosted by Ithaca. This year's NCAA Championships will once again take place in Greensboro, N.C. and they take place March 19-22.