Three CU Swimming Marks Fall on Final Day of Liberty League Championships

Melissa Cartier

Swimming/Diving | 2/24/2024 9:57:00 PM

Ithaca, NY – Three school marks fell on Saturday, highlighted by Connor Tasselmyer breaking his own school record in the 100 freestyle, as the Clarkson University Swimming & Diving program closed out a successful showing at the Liberty League Championships, hosted by Ithaca College.

The Golden Knights' men had their best finish at the Liberty League Championships, finishing with 778 points, trailing only RIT (1530.5), Ithaca (1458.5), and Rensselaer (1273.5) while leading Skidmore (749.5), Union (561.5), Vassar (383.5), Hobart (240), St. Lawrence (163), and Bard (15). The Clarkson women took eighth with 343 points behind Ithaca (1512.5), RIT (1437.5), Rensselaer (1343), Vassar (1091), Skidmore (796.5), St. Lawrence (631.5), and Union (558) but ahead of William Smith (296) and Bard (70).

Complete Results 2024 Liberty League Championship Meet

Though most swam the 1650 freestyle in the morning's preliminary races, Casey Everett had the top time in that race for the Knights, finishing the event in 17:01.24 to place 12th. Several others also picked up points for the Knights in the longest event of the four-day meet, with Colin Cordy placing 14th in 17:18.21, Bradley Beall taking 17th in 17:50.32, Aiden Spoors coming in 18th in 17:58.09 and Tristan Miranda finishing 21st in 18:13.88. For the women, Gabriela McSwieney had the top time in the 1650, placing 18th in 18:41.74. Ellen Patterson (20th 19:01.30) and Shannon Glor (23rd, 19:37.14) also picked up points.

The evening finals saw several Clarkson swimmers participate in the top heats. Connor Tasselmyer had the second-fastest time in the 100 freestyle preliminaries and just clipped his own mark with a time of 45.87 in the morning session. He tied his previous mark in the evening 'A' finals, taking fourth in 45.91 seconds. Gavin Stuhler (16th, 47.77), Tim Jordan (17th, 47.47), and Andrew Sypko (22nd, 48.72) also earned points for the Knights in that event. The women did not advance anyone to the finals, though Ava Lamontagne (27th, 56.47 seconds) just missed out.

Junior Michael Schroeder reached the 'A' finals in the 200 backstroke after placing seventh in the prelims, as he ended up in eighth place in the evening's top heat with a time of 1:57.34. Freshmen Owen White (12th, 2:01.51) also participated in the 'B' finals, shaving more than a second off his preliminary qualifying time. The lone female to advance to the finals in the 200 backstroke was grad student Maria Nenadic, as she led the 'C' finals heat with a time of 2:11.95, taking 17th overall in the event.

Tasselmyer wasn't alone in breaking records for the Golden Knights on Saturday evening. Calvin Woolfolk just missed out on breaking a four-year-old record in the 200 breaststroke during the preliminaries, but he shattered the mark in the 'B' finals. Woolfolk easily won his heat with a time of 2:07.67, which was 1.39 seconds faster than the previous Clarkson record set by Johnny Magnuson in 2020 and 1.56 seconds faster than his preliminary time. Three others collected points for the Knights in the 'B' and 'C' finals. Matthew Sitarek came in 16th with a time of 2:10.66, Andrew Sammons was 18th in 2:11.14, and Colin Urmaza was 19th with a finals time of 2:11.34. None of Clarkson's women advance to the finals, though Grace Girard (26th, 2:42.37), Sydney Kanner (28th, 2:44.89), and Angela Tewksbury (29th, 2:45.43) were close to qualifying.

The evening concluded with the 400 freestyle relays, as the Golden Knights' 'A' group of Gavin Stuhler, Landon Colby, Tim Jordan, and Connor Tasselmyer finished sixth in 3:09.50, topping a mark set a year ago (3:10.43) which included three of those same names. Clarkson's foursome of Ava Lamontagne, Emily Greene, Maria Nenadic, and Gabriela McSwieney earned seventh-place points by finishing the 400 free relay in 3:41.59.

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