The Binghamton men’s and women’s swim and dive teams continued their 2024-25 campaigns at Canisius this past weekend, posting winning records on both sides. The Bearcat men commanded their meet against Canisius with a 198-98 victory, while the women clinched a strong 191-108 win. Across both sides, there was one triple individual winner for BU while four other Bearcat competitors earned double individual wins during the meet.

“I thought it was pretty good,” said Binghamton head coach Jerry Cummiskey. “I thought about where we are and beating [Canisius] this past week and getting on a bus to Buffalo, I thought we competed well. We probably weren’t at our best overall, but that isn’t the expectation this time of the year. I thought [we] had a good time racing and got to win.”

For the third week in a row, the Bearcat men were led by senior Elijah Lanfear in the win column. Lanfear captured the gold in the 100 back, 100 fly and 100 free with respective times of 51.04, 49.82 and 45.88. Lanfear was also a key contributor to the men’s 200 medley relay team, alongside freshman Tyler Schultz, sophomore Cullin Cole and junior Max Kaback. The squad clocked a time of 1:33.08 to take first place in the event.

“[Lanfear] is one of our top guys,” Cummiskey said. “He has the ability to be really consistently good and races well and swims a lot of different events for us, it is nice that he can be that staple for us to build around week to week.”

Other standout performances on the men’s side came courtesy of freshman Evan Peters. Peters achieved double victories, sweeping the 200 free with a time of 1:43.93 and the 500 free clocking in at 4:43.69. Peters was also a part of the winning 200-free relay team that included junior Liam Preston, as well as freshmen Ryaan Alshami and William Deutmeyer. That Bearcat quartet clocked a time of 1:25.07.

“[Peters] won two events for us and he has been amazing for us his freshman year,” Cummiskey said. “[Peters] works hard. He is still working through with adjusting how we do things in and out of the water. He is very talented and raw in some areas. I think [Peters] will be one of our top guys moving forward.”

On the women’s side, senior Lauren Kuzma and junior Maria Pignatelli spearheaded the Bearcats’ victory with double wins in their respective matches. Pignatelli recorded top honors in the 50 free with a time of 24.64 and 100 free with a time of 53.92.

“[Pignetlli] is having her best year,” Cummiskey said. “Really turning a corner, similar to [what] Kuzma did last year.”

While Pignatelli secured double wins, Kuzma demonstrated that her senior year could be her best yet, taking victories in both the 100 breast and 200 breast with finishes of 1:06.71 and 2:24.05, respectively.

“[Kuzma] has been consistent, grinding through it and showing real resilience over her four years,” Cummiskey said. “She kept putting in the work and had a breakthrough year last season. I’m excited to see what she accomplishes in these last three months.”

BU will now return home to compete against Cornell on Friday, Nov. 8. First race is set for 5 p.m. at the Patricia A. Saunders Aquatic Center In Vestal, New York.