SUNY Brockport’s men’s swimming and diving team defeated Nazareth University 113.5-108.5, bringing the Golden Eagles’ record to 4-3-1 to end the regular season.
Luca Olivieri finished first in all three of his events, earning times of 2:05.83 in the 200 IM, 56.51 in the 100-yard backstroke, and 1:03.37 in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Ren Watson placed first in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events with scores of 258.98 and 263.18, respectively.
“It’s hard to say one MVP because every finish first through fifth place matters points wise,” head coach Zack Wahl said. “I do give Luca a lot of credit for him completely switching from a 50 free to a 100 breast at the end there. He really put the team on his back. I have to give him props for that. But it was a team effort from everybody there. It takes every single guy. You don’t get to 113 points without 15 guys scoring left and right. And another shoutout to Ren because without the diving points we got from them we would not have won that meet.”
Brockport started the meet with a nail-biting finish to the 200-yard medley relay, getting out-touched at the last moment.
The next event was the 1000 freestyle, probably the most competitive race of the night, with two people tying for second place. Brockport’s Michael Laviani and Nazareth’s Cameron Fairley both finished with times of 10:59.20. That race saw Laviani in third place after the first 100 yards, but he maintained his pace and was able to overtake Fairley, and nearly caught up to Nazareth’s Gianluca Antonini. That is, until the last 50 yards of the race. Antonini pulled away and at the very last moment, Fairley caught up with Laviani, ending with a tie for second place. Ryan Sampson grabbed fourth place with a time of 12:08.00.
Next up was the 200-yard freestyle. Jace Fredericksen cruised to victory with a time of 1:52.20. Laviani placed fourth with a time of 1:57.17 and Josh Lauzonis got fifth with a time of 2:02.35.
In the 50-yard freestyle Jack Olsian placed second posting a 22.48. Garrett Nanna placed fourth with a 24.00 and Jacob Hagen snagged fifth with a 25.04.
The 200 IM saw Olivieri win with a time of 2:05.83. Matt Cole placed fourth with a 2:16.17. Captain Matt Chan placed fifth with a 2:16.43.
In the 100-yard butterfly Chan placed third with a time of 57.19. Joe Keeney placed fourth with a 1:00.70. Logan Kime placed sixth posting a 1:01.74.
Alex Scaglione and Olsian earned Brockport first and second in a bang-bang finish in the 100-yard freestyle, posting times of 49.64 and 50.11, respectively. Hagen snagged fifth with a 55.23.
Olivieri continued his run of first place finishes in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.51. Cole grabbed second with a 1:00.73.
The 500-yard freestyle was a nail-biter for Nazareth and Brockport, with first through third place all finishing within 0.51 seconds of each other. Fredericksen finished third with a time of 5:09.63. Laviani finished fourth with a 5:21.71. Sampson finished in sixth with a 5:53.71.
The last individual event was the 100-yard breaststroke, which saw Olivieri win once again, this time with a time of 1:03.37. Lauzonis grabbed fourth with a time of 1:09.77. Jonathan Abraham grabbed fifth with 1:13.70.
The 200 freestyle relay at the end saw a team of Scaglione, Keeney, Nanna and Olsian grab second place with a time of 1:31.47. The team of Hagen, Kime, Abraham and Fredericksen finished fourth with a time of 1:44.73.
“Our team has a lot of great swimmers,” Olivieri said. “Everybody wants to get up to race. But when your friends, the ones that you look forward to cheering on, get up for you for that one race that you know might control the fate of the entire meet? It’s unlike any other feeling.”
Brockport swimming and diving’s next meet is SUNYAC championships from Feb. 21-24 at Burt Flickinger Athletic Center in Buffalo, NY.
