ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Oneonta women's swimming and diving team competed against Hartwick and Potsdam on Saturday afternoon at Moyer Pool, highlighted by several individual victories and strong performances across the freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke events.
Junior Alexis Gibson (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) led the Red Dragons, winning the 50-yard freestyle and placing runner-up in the 200-yard backstroke. Freshman Maria Petkovits (Huntington, NY) also had an impressive afternoon, collecting two individual victories.
Oneonta opened the meet with a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. The A relay touched the wall in 1:59.41, finishing just behind Hartwick (1:56.44). The Red Dragons' B relay added a sixth-place finish in 2:14.00.
In the distance events, sophomore Mary Bush (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) led Oneonta in the 1,000-yard freestyle, finishing third overall in 12:28.33.
The Red Dragons had a strong showing in the 200-yard freestyle, placing three swimmers among the top six. Freshman Arianna Petkovits (Huntington, NY) led Oneonta with a fourth-place finish in 2:12.80, followed by freshman Kaylee Sliper (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) in fifth at 2:14.56. Freshman Ailish O'Hara (Tappan, NY/Tappan Zee) finished sixth in 2:21.74.
M. Petkovits led the backstroke events. She finished third in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:05.86 before taking second in the 200-yard backstroke, touching the wall in 2:19.86.
Gibson also delivered one of the afternoon's top performances in the sprint events, winning the 50-yard freestyle in 25.98 seconds. She added a second-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:19.86.
In the breaststroke events, junior Sydney Richards (Rochester, NY/Ruben A. Cirillo) paced the Red Dragons with a third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:15.24). Richards followed with another third-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, touching the wall in 2:46.02. Sophomore Krista Broussard (Chesterfield, VA/Thomas Dale) added a sixth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke in 1:24.98.
Oneonta continued to find success in the freestyle events. M. Petkovits captured the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 57.99, narrowly edging Hartwick's Nora Spangler (58.04). O'Hara placed eighth in 1:03.92, while Broussard finished ninth in 1:04.90.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Sliper led the Red Dragons with a fourth-place finish in 5:51.50. A. Petkovits followed closely in fifth at 5:52.21, while Junior Kaidyn Thompson (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central) finished sixth in 6:10.81. Senior Ashley Brousseau (Peru, NY/Peru Central) rounded out Oneonta's top finishers with a ninth-place time of 6:24.05.
Bush also contributed in the butterfly events, finishing fourth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:11.73. O'Hara placed fifth in 1:17.92.
In the 200-yard individual medley, Maria Petkovits (Huntington, NY) recorded another strong performance, finishing second overall in 2:27.34. Thompson added a fourth-place finish in 2:40.55, while Keira Van Woert () placed fifth in 2:49.67.
The Red Dragons closed the swimming portion of the meet with a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Oneonta's A relay finished in 1:49.31, while the B relay placed seventh in 1:58.65.
Oneonta returns to the pool on Tuesday, November 10, when the Red Dragons host SUNY Delhi and Herkimer at Chase PE Pool.
