The Binghamton University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were defeated in a dual meet against Cornell this past weekend. The men’s team was defeated 175-114, while the women were handily beat by a score of 211-87.
The men’s team did show progress, led by junior Brenno Varanda, who was a dual meet winner. Varanda won the 200-meter individual medley and the 200-meter breaststroke, while also finishing second in the 400-meter i.m. Andrew Palumbo was also a winner by capturing the 100-meter breaststroke, giving him five victories on the year. Varanda leads the team with 12 individual victories.
‘Brenno was our standout swimmer today,’ said Binghamton swimming and diving coach Sean Clark in a press release. ‘He had a tough day after a tough week and he responded like a champion.’
The Bearcats also received great performances by their seniors, with Joe Rogan and Jason Lapp both finishing with third place finishes. Though the dismal finish, the men’s team also displayed its bright future with Jason Chen finishing second in the 100-back and third in the 100-free.
The women finished the day with impressive finishes by both their upper and lower classmen.
Freshman Brittany Detlef won the 200-meter i.m. and finished second in the 100-meter backstroke. Junior Heather Jennings finished second in the 200-meter i.m. Nicole Sweeney rounded up those swims with a second-place finish in the 500-meter freestyle. Junior Kate Hassfurter also was impressive capturing second in the one-meter dive. Newcomer junior Mel Gelfand was dominant finishing first in the three-meter dive. Freshmen Lyndsi Worthington and Jordyn Kline finished with third place finishes.
‘It was a solid day of swimming for our women,’ Clark said. ‘We had five women do lifetime best times and we are very proud of that.’
The Bearcats finish out the year with a tri-meet at home against Howard and Niagara University on Saturday, Dec. 8.