After over a year of not competing, the Binghamton men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams swept Canisius and Niagara in Saturday’s tri-meet. The men’s team defeated Canisius 192-108 and Niagara 232-63 while the women edged out Canisius 154-145 and overpowered Niagara 216.50-77.50.

“Being back and being able to compete was the primary focus and it’s very exciting in and of itself,” said Binghamton head coach Jerry Cummiskey. “Our level of competition and our ability to up our game from our inter-squad meet last week was awesome. It definitely felt weird to be back on deck but it was a good meet. They swam well, dove well and competed. Getting four wins at the end of that is exciting.”

On the women’s side, there were 19 top-three finishes, but it was freshman Courtney Moane, sophomore Audrey Pesek and senior Sophia Howard who paved the way for the Bearcats, winning two individual titles each. Howard swept the diving events, securing the three-meter dive with a score of 217.60 and the one-meter with a score of 210.80. According to Cummiskey, Moane has had limited training this season, but the freshman showcased her speed, winning the 100 breast and 200 breast with times of 1:07.95 and 2:28.95, respectively. Pesek dominated the 100 back and 100 fly with times of 58.29 and 59.21. Pesek was the clear-cut winner in the 100 back, as she was the only swimmer to finish in under a minute.

“[Pesek] had a really good swim in the medley relay to get us started and carried that into the 100 back and the 100 fly — she’s worked really hard to get there,” Cummiskey said. “[Moane] has been in and out of the pool so she had a really good day considering the training she’s got behind her right now, so we’re definitely excited about what she’s got to offer in the future. And [Howard’s] been a stud for us for three years now, so she had a great day and will continue to be really strong on the boards.”

Moane wasn’t the only freshman to secure first place finishes, as freshmen Kandice Chandra and Henry Shemet each won an individual title in their first collegiate meet. Chandra placed first in the 200 back with a time of 2:12.97 while Shemet just out-touched Niagara’s sophomore Kevin Vu with a time of 53.45.

“[Shemet] and [Chandra] are in similar situations as [Moane] training-wise,” Cummiskey said. “They’ve had ups and downs but when they’re in [the pool], they work hard and have done a good job with all the obstacles that have been in their way.”

Diving was one of the team’s greatest strength, as Howard captured two wins and the men’s team swept both the one and three-meter dives. Senior David Walters won the one-meter with a score of 237.40. Sophomore Ryan Cohn was right behind Walters with a score of 225.45, and senior Erik Temple finished the sweep in third with a score of 216.70. In the three-meter, Cohn was the winner with a score of 221.65. Walters took the second place finish and Temple the third with scores of 208.50 and 189.75, respectively.

“Diving is always a strength for us,” Cummiskey said. “It’s something that we rely on meet in and meet out. They’ve had a ton of success. We’ve had some divers injured that we look forward to having back, but [diving coach] Heather [Colby] has done a great job of leading them and continuing to work through things. They’ve had the same ups and downs on the boards and off. They work hard and they’ve done a good job of getting to where they are right now and I have no doubt that they’re going to continue to get better.”

Men’s swimmers including sophomore Justin Meyn and junior Brian Harding were also significant contributors to the wins against Niagara and Canisius. Meyn won the 100 free with a time of 47.68 and Harding secured the 200 back with a time of 1:57.85. Both Meyn and Harding were top eight finishers in each of these events in last year’s America East (AE) Championship.

“[Meyn’s] one of our top sprinters and we rely on him in the 50 [free] and the 100 [free] and a lot of other places,” Cummiskey said. “He works hard and wants to continue to get better, so we expect big things from him. I think he’ll take a big jump here to really compete to win some events at the conference level. [Harding] winning the 200 back, I think that was probably his best in-season dual meet time ever. He just had a great swim and really started to put some things together. He works extremely hard so it’s really nice to see that pay off for him.”

Other first place finishers included senior Kaitlyn Smolar in the 500 free (5:19.44), sophomore Jackson Homan in the 200 fly (1:56.35) and the men’s 200 medley relay quartet of senior Shane Morris, junior Ryan Board, freshman Travis Phillips and junior Ben Beldner (1:34.85).

Up next for the men’s team is a home meet against NJIT. The meet will begin at 11 a.m., and the women will take on Stony Brook right after at 3 p.m. Both meets will take place in the Patricia A. Saunders Aquatic Center at the West Gym in Vestal, New York.