ITHACA, N.Y. — The Ithaca College men's swimming and diving team surged to the top of the standings Wednesday at the 2026 Liberty League Championships, finishing the first day with 502 points. RIT sits second with 439.5 points, followed by Clarkson with 254.5 as once again it's hosted by the Bombers inside Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium.
Senior
Ryan Cooke earned Ithaca's first individual title of the meet, winning the 500-yard freestyle in 4:31.98, as he reset both his championship and association record from a season ago. Ithaca's depth in the event was decisive, as
Bennett Molitor-Kirsch finished third (4:33.99),
James Kissel placed sixth (4:35.40) and
Evan Wardrop took seventh (4:42.10). First year
Harper Freeman added a 12th-place finish out of the B final.
First year
Ben Lajoie delivered a strong finals swim in the 200 IM, finishing in a tie for second with a time of 1:54.07, just four-hundredths of a second behind the winner, Stephen Graver from RIT. Sophomore Nicholas Sosa (sixth, 1:55.69) and senior
Matthew Janssen (seventh, 1:56.12) added points in the A final.
Graduate student Matt Mitros captured the 50-yard freestyle in 19.92, hitting an NCAA Division III B-cut standard and winning the event for the second-straight year. Junior
Alec Kutsner tied for third (20.97), and sophomore
Spencer Alderson placed sixth (21.26), giving the Bombers three scorers in the A final.
Senior
Kian Long scored 498.70 points to finish third in the 3-meter diving event. Sophomore
Andrew Cheely placed seventh (336.05), adding additional diving points.
The Bombers closed Day 1 with a dramatic victory in the 400 medley relay. The quartet of Kutsner,
Will Stanczewski, Mitros and Cooke posted a 3:20.03, edging RIT by three-tenths of a second.
Competition continues Thursday with prelims in the 200 freestyle, 400 IM, 100 butterfly at 10 a.m. and 1-meter diving at 1 p.m., followed by the evening finals session with the 200-yard freestyle relay to cap it off. The finals will once again begin at 6 p.m.
