The Golden Eagles swim team couldn’t break their losing streak while at home, losing to Nazareth University and SUNY Geneseo on Saturday, Nov. 3. The men’s team lost 112-79 to the Knights and 161-117 to the Golden Flyers, dropping them to 0-3 this season. As for the women’s team, they lost 165-132 to the Knights and 168-132 to the Golden Flyers, causing them to fall to 1-2.
The men and women’s team started off slow in the longer distance swimming events. Most of the swimmers came in either fifth or sixth place out of the six swimmers that would compete in the heats.
Brockport did start to turn things around in the shorter distance events. Luca Oliveri did well the entire meet.
He came in second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:19.26. He also took first place in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:03.06. Jace Fredrickson even had a solid meet as well for the men’s team, swimming a 2:08.62 in the 200-yard backstroke.
The men’s team even found success in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Jack Olsian, Joe Keeney, Alex Scaglione and Garrett Nanna helped the team finish third with a time of 1:32.40. Brockport’s Head Coach Zack Wahl was impressed by his male swimmers, even Nanna who showed promise during the meet.
“He’s grown a long way since his freshman year,” Wahl said. “He’s going to be a big part of our program going forward and I’m really excited to keep working with him for the next several years.”
The women managed to pull it together towards the end as well. Emily LeFrois-Heath managed to win the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:01.47 and the 200-yard IM, clocking in 2:18.34. She also placed first in the 200-yard butterfly event with a time of 2:18.75.
LeFrois-Heath was not the only one who looked impressive Saturday. Addy Martino came in third in the 200-yard breaststroke, clocking in a 2:40.44, and first in the 100-yard breaststroke, swimming a 1:11.40. Sarah Kilburn looked strong as well, getting second place in the 50-yard freestyle with a 25.47 and third in the 100-yard freestyle with a 57.42.
The women’s team managed to do well in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Kilburn, Emma Butler, Corinne Wilson and Emily Meissner helped the team get in third, recording a 1:45.74.
Also, in the 200-yard medley relay, Brockport had two women’s teams take first and third. LeFrois-Heath, Kilburn, Meissner and Martino got first, recording a 1:55.33. The team that took third, which consisted of Wilson, Sam Whitman, Maddie Ernhart and Butler, managed to get a 2:00.9.
As for the divers, two of them really stood out: Ren Watson and two-time SUNYAC Diver of the Week, Kyra Russ. Watson took third place home in the men’s 1-meter diving event with a score of 224.25. He also scored 218.20 to secure third place in the 3-meter diving event.
Russ had another excellent week. She scored 248.05 to get second in the women’s 3-meter diving competition and scored 235.85 to get third in the 1-meter diving event.
Looking ahead, Brockport gets the week off. Coach Wahl believes that due to how early it is in the season, they are still trying to figure out what the conference roster might be down the line.
“We are trying to figure out what potential lineups are for everybody at the end of the year championship,” Wahl said. “We’re going to rest them a little bit and get some seed times and really get a feel for what our conference rosters going to look like.”
Nanna believes that the team can get to where they need to be. There is just one key thing that if it is improved on, they can accomplish what they need to.
“Just confidence,” Nanna said. “Honestly, mid-season is coming up soon. We’re suiting up, tapering down for that and that’s a lot of pressure. So, building confidence throughout the week is really important so you can step up.”
Brockport will take on SUNY Potsdam Saturday, Nov. 11. The meet is set to start at 1 p.m.
