The Binghamton University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams took part in the America East Championships over the holiday weekend. Hosted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in Germantown, Md., the championships kicked off on Thursday and finished on Sunday. The championships closed out with the men finishing in third place for the fourth year in a row, ahead of Stony Brook University and University of Maine. The women finished their season in fifth place for the first time since 2003-04, topping Stony Brook and Maine as well. Host UMBC was the victor for both the men’s and women’s sides.
Both the men’s (5-4) and women’s (6-3-1) squads were successful in Maryland, and head coach Sean Clark said his team was “fully on for this meet and went full out with a total team effort.”
Clark said things began to “heat up” right away. Last season’s women’s team MVP, senior Amanda Ciccone, led off the weekend with a team record in the 800-meter freestyle, and last year’s team MVP on the men’s side, junior Nolan Slesnick, led the charge in the 800-free. Both Ciccone and Slesnick came out with a best time and finished in third.
The weekend was full of team and individual accomplishments with the women breaking all five relay school records and an additional seven individual records.
Clark recognized sophomore Tin Wai Siu, who came out on top in the 500-free relay and 400 individual medley, freshman Lauren Flower, who snagged both the 100 and 200 breast records, and sophomore Karissa Gorman, who also made her mark in the record books by setting a new school record in the mile.
“It seemed that we couldn’t go for very long without another supreme result,” Clark said.
The men broke three school records for relays, in the 200 and 400 medley relay and 200 free relay. In addition, senior Phil Dzieniszewski came out with a second-place finish in the 100 breast and set a new school record of 56.12 in the 200 back stroke.
Clark recognized junior Joe Perez-Roger’s victory in the 100 back, which he dubbed the “swim of his life” and Slesnick’s first-place finish in the 400 I.M.
“It was very rewarding to see Binghamton on the podium,” Clark said.
On the women’s end, Clark listed the team’s success in its “quest to move up to fifth place as a team.” Junior divers Jenna Easton and Morgan Neal “slid into finals on both boards.” The women remained in fifth, despite a last-ditch effort to slide past Vermont for fourth place. Clark credited Vermont’s strong depth for its fourth-place finish.
Clark is optimistic for a “solid future” with freshmen Flower and Racquel Giner, both of whom set freshman records this past tournament.
Looking ahead on the men’s end, Clark looks to freshmen Collin Figus and John Pangal. According to Clark, the two swimmers “made noise as freshmen with four finals appearances between them.” In addition, sophomore Mark Cereste, who Clark said was “somewhat unheralded but practically impressive,” is also a key piece of the puzzle.
Bearcats who had All-Conference performances for the championship include seniors Jason Chen and Dzieniszewski, juniors Perez-Rogers and Slesnick and sophomores Josh Saccurato and Anthony Foiles. This recognition is given to the top three individuals in each event.
All 19 of the men had at least one personal best in the pool or on the diving boards this weekend.
Additional honors for both teams included the America East Coaching Staff of the Year award, which was shared with third-place University of New Hampshire for the women’s end, and with the repeat champions UMBC on the men’s side.
Clark noted the experiences as “thoroughly enjoyable.”
“We’ve got a new standard of excellence to aim for in the future season … The Bearcats made their presence felt in Baltimore over this weekend,” Clark said.