Men’s Swimming & Diving
Feb. 21st – 23rd at SUNYAC Championships, 3rd place with 585 pts.
SUNY Oneonta senior and Oneonta native,
Alex Miller (Oneonta/Oneonta), couldn't have ended his SUNYAC career any better this past weekend, as he captured three individual conference titles, setting three SUNYAC records in the process. Miller won the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events while also winning the 400-yard individual medley.
Miller led the men's team to a repeat third place finish in the team standings with 585 points. The SUNY Cortland men ended SUNY Geneseo's 14-year streak by taking the overall team title.
Miller's performance during the championships earned him the Outstanding Male Swimmer of the Year award, becoming the first Oneonta swimmer or diver to be honored. Four previous male swimmers were honored by the SUNYAC with the James Fulton Award, which includes other criteria such as All-America honors, career improvement and academic achievement.
During the opening day of swimming at the championships, Miller was part of the 400-yard medley relay foursome that recorded a second place finish in a school record time of 3:27.01. He was joined by classmate
Alex Vaughn (Windsor/Windsor), junior
Ryan Walsh (Wingdale/Arlington) and sophomore
Colton Roe (Middletown/Pine Bush). This same group also placed third in the 200-medley relay on Friday night.
The relay was just one part of his championship last hursday, as he captured two individual SUNYAC titles as well. He won both the 400 IM (4:07.81) and 100 backstroke (50.90). In winning the events, he set new conference records while reaching the NCAA “B” cut qualifying times. In the 100 back, Miller successfully defended his title from last year while breaking his own conference record in the event.
Last Friday night, Miller capped his championships by winning the 200 backstroke (1:51.62), setting his third conference record in the process and reaching the NCAA “B” cut qualifying time in the event.
Roe was a medalist in the 100 back with a second place finish in a time of 51.24, which was also an NCAA “B” cut time. He was also part of the 800-yard freestyle relay with Walsh, Miller and sophomore
Daniel Donaghy (Holtsville/Sachem East) that placed second. Roe set a school record in the 50-yard freestyle of 21.77 when he finished seventh in that event.
Vaughn finished seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke with a school record time of 59.66.
In all, the men set nine individual school records and two relay marks over the four-day event that began on Wednesday with diving prelims. Miller had a part in five of the records while Roe and Walsh were part of three.
Walsh came away with a medal and a school record in the 100-yard butterfly (50.82) with a second place finish. Walsh was the defending conference champion in the event.
Junior diver
Jermaine Miller (Elmira/Southside ) had his career best finishes at the championship, as he placed second in both the 1m and 3m events, which earned him a pair of medals.
The final three record-setters for Oneonta were senior
Scott Bertoldo (Attica/Attica), Donaghy and newcomer
Joseph Galan (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy). Galan had a solid first championship with a second place finish in the 400 IM with a personal best time of 4:10.05. He set his record in the 200 IM when he finished sixth with a time of 1:57.06, breaking Miller's record set two years ago at the conference meet.
Bertoldo broke his own school record in the 200 breaststroke with a ninth place finish overall in a time of 2:13.88.
Donaghy broke his own school record in the 1650-yard freestyle, which he set at last year's championships. His new time of 16:42.84 is five seconds than his old mark.
Roe and Miller will have to wait and see if they make the cut for this year's NCAA championship meet, which won't be announced for another week.
Miller will compete this weekend at Springfield College in the NCAA Northeast Regional Diving championships. Miller will try to get back to the NCAA championships after qualifying in both boards last year.
Women’s Swimming & Diving
Feb. 21st – 23rd at SUNYAC Championships, 5th place with
The SUNY Oneonta women's swimming & diving team had a record-setting conference championship meet, as the Red Dragons finished fifth overall in the final team standings. All together, the women broke six individual and three relay school records.
Leading the way for Oneonta was sophomore
Carly Cahill (Troy/Troy), who was part of five school records including two individual marks. Cahill set individual records in the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke while being a part of all three record-setting relays.
Cahill's new mark in the 200 free of 1:57.52 was nearly two seconds faster than the old mark set back in 2005 by Sarah Millspaugh. Her time of 2:10.19 in the 200 back was over one second faster than the old time set in 2009 by Michelle Sano.
Cahill teamed with junior
Chandler Shepard (Delhi/Delaware Academy) and freshmen
Taylor Waldrop (Fairport/Fairport) and
Lauren Zentko (Glenville/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) to set school records in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:38.67) and the 800-yard freestyle relay (8:01.86).
Cahill and Shepard added senior
Jacqueline Haight (Smithtown/Smithtown East) and junior
Alexxa Poliachik (Niagara Falls/Niagara Wheatfield) in setting a school record in the 200-yard medley relay of 1:52.75.
Zentko was right behind Cahill with a pair of individual school records set in her rookie appearance at the championships. Zentko broke her own school record in the 1650-yard relay and earned one of Oneonta's two medals during the championships. Zentko became the first female to go sub-18 minutes in the event, recording a time of 17:58.99. Her second school record came in the 500-yard freestyle where she finished fourth in a time of 5:08.45. Zentko was also fourth in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:40.97.
The final two individual record-setters for the women were senior
Kaitlin Thorp (Maybrook/Valley Central) and sophomore
Kelly Ruf (Poughkeepsie/Roy C. Ketcham). Ruf was a medalist (3rd place) in the 200-yard butterfly with a school record time of 2:11.34, which broke her own record by nearly three seconds. Ruf also swam a personal best time of 4:44.70 in finishing sixth in the 400 IM.
Thorp broke the school record in the 100-yard butterfly, which was set earlier this season by Zentko. Thorp finished 14th in the event with a time of 1:00.98.
Men’s Track & Field
Feb. 23rd at SUNYAC Championships, 1st place with 153 pts.
In an epic “Battle of the Red Dragons”, it was the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons topping its rival Red Dragons from SUNY Cortland last Saturday to capture the SUNYAC title for the first time in program history. It was a two-team race until the end with the final exclamation point being a win in the 4x400m relay by Oneonta to take the crown 153-146.5. Host Brockport was a distant third with 91 points.
Superiority in the sprints and the throws proved to be the difference in the day's meet for Oneonta, as the Red Dragons collected 80 points between the 60m, 200m, shot put and weight throw events. Oneonta won all four of those events along with the 60m hurdles and the 3000m run. In all, Oneonta won six individual titles and one relay title. Oneonta also garnered 11 individual medals.
“Winning our first ever team title on the same day that we collected our 100th SUNYAC title since we started the program in 2003 is certainly something special and historic,” said head coach
Matt LoPiccolo. “This was a great day for all alumni, parents, family, friends and administrators. The coaching staff and current student athletes are honored to have this much support.”
Leading the men with a pair of individual SUNYAC titles was senior
Sean Bernstein (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker). Bernstein successfully defended both of his indoor titles from a year ago in the 60m and 200m dashes. In winning the 60m in 6.82, he broke his own school record in the event along with setting a meet and facility record. His winning time of 21.86 in the 200m was good enough to set a facility record as well.
Bernstein was also the leadoff leg for the winning 4x400m relay foursome that concluded the meet. Bernstein was joined by a trio of freshmen in
Joe Carr (Burnt Hills/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake),
Thomas Wheeler (Rocky Point/Rocky Point) and
Micah Patterson (Plattsburgh/Saranac).
Bernstein has now collected seven SUNYAC titles between indoor and outdoor track & field, which makes him the all-time leader for the men's program.
Carr and Wheeler were also medalists in individual events in the meet. Carr finished second in the 60m (6.96) while Wheeler ran a personal best time of 50.19 in finishing third in the 400m.
The throwing trio of sophomores
Patrick Weinert (Schenevus/Schenevus) and
J.D. Roth (Pearl River/Nanuet) and freshman
Joe Fox (West Nyack/Clarkstown South) had a tremendous day for Oneonta. The three combined to win both throwing events while collecting 39 points for the Red Dragons.
Weinert won his first SUNYAC title in the 35-lb. weight throw with a school record heave of 17.44m (57' 2 ¾”). Fox captured his first conference title in the shot put with a distance of 15.47m (50' 9 ¼”).
The three were 1-2-3 in the weight throw with Roth in the No. 2 position and Fox in the third spot.
A third freshman,
Jake Alviene (East Greenbush/Columbia), won a SUNYAC title in the 60m hurdles. He set a meet and facility record in the event with a time of 8.18. Alviene was also the runner-up to Bernstein in the 200m dash in a time of 22.40.
The final SUNYAC individual title for the men came from sophomore
Charles Remillard (Peru/Peru). Remillard ran a facility record time of 8:41.26 in capturing the 3000m run.
Women’s Track & Field
Feb. 23rd at SUNYAC Championships, 6th place with 43 pts.
The SUNY Oneonta women competed at the 2013 SUNYAC indoor track & field championships last Saturday and came away with a sixth place finish overall with 43 points. SUNY Cortland won the overall team championship with 172 points.
The women scored in six individual events led by senior
Kacy Boburka (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) and junior
Danielle Kennedy (Stony Point/Albertus Magnus), who each won a conference title. Boburka won her title in the high jump while Kennedy won the 3000m run. For Boburka, it was the second individual title of her career indoors to go with one outdoor title. Two years ago, she won the high jump as a prelude to earning All-American honors in the event. Last Saturday, Boburka cleared 1.63m (5' 4 ¼”) to win the event. She was tied for first, but won it on attempts at the previous height.
Boburka also scored points in the shot put with her fifth place finish.
Kennedy broke her own school record in setting a facility record of 10:19.43. This was Kennedy's first track championship of her career. She is already a Hall of Famer for SUNYAC Cross-Country.
Rounding out the athletes that scored for Oneonta in the meet were junior
Kaitlyn Brandt (West Islip/West Islip) and senior
Kate Parsons (Valatie/Ichabod Crane). Brandt scored in both the 60m and 200m dashes with a fifth place and seventh place finish respectively. She ran a personal best time of 7.99 seconds in the 60m.
Parsons was just short of her personal best mark in finishing fifth in the 20-lb. weight throw. She recorded a mark of 14.27m (46' 10”).
Men’s Lacrosse (1-1)
Feb. 22nd at Whittier College, L 6-17
Feb. 23rd vs. Southwestern University (at Whittier), W 12-3
The men’s lacrosse team returned from its west coast trip with a split in the two games they played. They lost to Whittier College, 6-17 and turned around the next day to defeat Southwestern University 12-3.
On the second day, the Red Dragons displayed the offensive prowess coach Dan Mahar is hoping for this season. At the end of the first period against Southwestern University, Oneonta led 6-1.
Junior
Daniel Stern (Shoreham/Shoreham-Wading River) led the charge and finished the day with 4 goals and 4 assists. Seniors
Alex Haffner (Northport/Northport) and
Jimmy van de Veerdonk (Putnam Valley/Putnam Valley) provided 3 goals and 1 goal respectively.
Freshman
Connor Coyle (Centerport/Harborfields) scored 1 goal and dished out four assists on the afternoon. The Red Dragons also received goals from freshmen
Josh Heller (Plainview/Plainview JFK) and
Taylor Kalbacher (Syosset/Syosset) and senior
Nicholas Sorrillo (Montebello/Suffern) to close out its scoring.
Senior
Chris Miles (Manlius/Fayetteville-Manlius) made four saves in his first victory of the 2013 season.
Oneonta outshot Southwestern 42-26 and picked up 32 more ground balls (56-24).
In the opening game of the season, Oneonta started out strong going up 2-0 on goals by
James Reiser (Melville/Half Hollow Hills East) and
Anthony Laureano (Holtsville/Sachem East), both off Stern assists, before Whittier tied it up at the end of the first period.
The second period started much like the first as Stern put the Red Dragons on the board again. Whittier then went on an 8-0 to take the lead and never looked back.
van de Veerdonk had 2 goals and Coyle provided the final one for Oneonta, who were outshot 49-37.
