ITHACA, N.Y. — The Ithaca College women's swimming and diving team opened its pursuit of a seventh-straight Liberty League Championship with a commanding performance Wednesday, finishing the first day of the 2026 conference meet in first place with 386 points. The Bombers lead RPI (268) and Skidmore (247) after nine events inside Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium.
Junior
Kathleen Papiernik won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:06.11, posting the top time of the evening while teammates
Elizabeth Bodie (third, 2:10.07) and
Sydney Koehler (fourth, 2:11.12) also reached the podium. The trio combined for a significant early scoring surge.
Momentum was also garnered with senior
Naomi Fry placing third in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:06.63, pacing Ithaca's group of three A-final swimmers. Senior
Ava Palfreyman finished fifth (5:09.49), and first year
Paige Simon took sixth (5:10.28). Sophomore
Mya Barbatsoulis added an 11th-place finish out of the B final.
In the fastest race of the meet, junior
Spencer Carroll finished as runner-up in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.79. Senior
Elke Beaumont placed fourth (23.90), and senior
Emma Kidd was eighth (24.44). RIT first year Tayrn Hickey showed her closing speed winning the event with a finals time of 23.70.
Ithaca closed the session with a win in the 400-yard medley relay, as Beaumont, Koehler, Papiernik and junior
Samantha Bender combined for a time of 3:50.31, nearly six seconds ahead of the field.
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.
