ITHACA, N.Y. — The Ithaca College men's swimming & diving team delivered a strong performance Saturday afternoon inside the Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium, posting multiple event victories in a competitive dual meet against No. 15 SUNY Geneseo. The Bombers finished with 141 points, narrowly trailing the Knights (159). Ithaca also celebrated its Senior Day honoring the careers of
Max Mignogna,
Bryce Martin,
Kian Long,
Matthew Janssen,
Ryan Cooke and
Kieran Brown.
Ithaca opened the meet with an impressive showing in the 200-yard medley relay, as
Alec Kutsner,
Will Stanczewski,
Matthew Mitros, and
Spencer Alderson touched second in 1:30.78, just a tenth of a second behind Geneseo's top relay.
Senior
Ryan Cooke led the Bombers with an outstanding afternoon, earning two individual victories. Cooke captured the 200-yard freestyle in 1:41.94 before closing the meet with a win in the 500-yard freestyle (4:38.34). He also contributed to Ithaca's second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
The Bombers controlled the backstroke events, sweeping the top two spots in the 100-yard backstroke.
Alec Kutsner claimed first in 50.61, followed closely by
Evan Wardrop (51.63). Wardrop later added another victory for Ithaca in the 200-yard backstroke, winning in 1:52.81.
Graduate student
Matthew Mitros added an individual win by tying for first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.80, while sophomore
James Moore secured first place in the 200-yard butterfly (1:52.12).
On the diving boards,
Kian Long turned in a pair of runner-up finishes, placing second in both the 1-meter (285.70) and 3-meter (267.30) competitions to contribute valuable team points.
Ithaca closed the meet with a strong relay performance, finishing second in the 200-yard freestyle relay as Alderson, Cooke, Kutsner, and Mitros combined for a time of 1:22.42.
With the loss, the Bombers dropped to 8-2 in dual meets. The divers return to action tomorrow afternoon hosting the Dick Comanzo Diving Invitational followed by the Geneca Diving Invitational hosted by RIT on Feb. 7. Ithaca will then host the Liberty League Championships slated for Feb. 18-21.
