ITHACA, N.Y. - The Ithaca College men's swimming & diving team made program history on Saturday night, capturing its first Liberty League Championship and ending Rochester Institute of Technology's four‑year reign atop the conference. The Bombers totaled 1,722 points, outpacing RIT (1,625.5) to clinch a long‑awaited title inside Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium.
Ithaca delivered a complete team performance throughout the final day, highlighted by multiple A‑final swims and a dramatic runner‑up finish in the 400‑yard freestyle relay to close the meet. The quartet of
Matthew Mitros,
Alec Kutsner,
Spencer Alderson, and
Ryan Cooke posted a 3:02.67, pushing RIT to the final wall and securing critical points that locked up the championship.
Mitros also headlined the evening individually with a victory in the 100‑yard freestyle, winning the conference title in 45.43 after entering the final as the top seed. Cooke (4th), Alderson (6th), and
Kyle Kruppa (7th) all joined him in the A‑final. Mitros was named the Co‑Swimmer of the Meet honors alongside RPI's Jason Weller thanks to a combination of individual titles, NCAA‑level times, and game‑changing relay swims.
Matthew Mitros opened the meet by winning the 50 freestyle in 19.92, a time fast enough to hit the NCAA Division III B‑cut and the only sub‑20 swim in the field. He doubled up with another Liberty League crown in the 100 butterfly, posting a 48.38—again achieving the NCAA B‑cut and outpacing a championship‑level field by more than half a second. Mitros' impact extended far beyond his individual events: he also anchored Ithaca's 400 medley relay to a winning time of 3:20.03.
In the 200 backstroke, Ithaca placed four swimmers in championship heats.
Evan Wardrop earned a second place finish in 1:51.43, with
Marshall Adams taking fourth,
Ben Hurty fifth, and
Alec Kutsner seventh — adding nearly 100 combined points to the Bombers' final total.
In the grueling 1650-yard freestyle, Ithaca placed four in the championship section, led by Bennett Molitor‑Kirsch's fourth‑place finish in 16:10.45.
James Kissel (6th),
Harper Freeman (7th), and first‑year
Boden Pearson also produced strong efforts to keep Ithaca atop the standings.
The Bombers' depth carried over to the B and C finals of multiple events, where swimmers like Nicholas Sosa,
James Moore, and
Kyle Kruppa secured crucial second‑tier points that ultimately separated Ithaca from the defending champions.
Ithaca now await NCAA selection announcements as several swimmers and
Kian Long positioned themselves for national qualification with their performances across the four-day championship meet. Regionally qualified divers will return to action on Friday, February 27 at the NCAA Diving Regionals scheduled for Feb. 27-28 in Rochester, N.Y.
