Rochester, N.Y. - Sophomore Katie O'Donnell (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem) won three individual events and teamed on a relay victory to lead the Le Moyne College women's swimming and diving team to a third place finish among six teams at the Don Richards Invitational hosted by RIT at Judson Pool from Friday to Sunday. Sophomore Drew Acquaviva (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem) led the men's squad to a fifth-place finish by sweeping the backstroke events.
In the women's team competition, the Dolphins tallied 696 to place third. Ithaca placed first with 933 points, while Nazareth finished second with 852 points. Hartwick (520.5), RIT (448.5) and Alfred (258) rounded out the standings. On the men's side, Le Moyne scored 464.5 points to place fifth. Alfred University came in first with 747 points to edge Ithaca (744.5) by just 2.5 points. Hartwick scored 681.5 points for third, RIT tallied 658.5 for fifth and Nazareth recorded 435 for sixth.
O'Donnell picked up her first win of the three-day invitational in the opening event on Saturday morning. Last year's Northeast-10 Conference Freshman of the Year, O'Donnell touched the wall first in the 200-yard backstroke in a season-best time of 2:07.89. In Saturday evening's session, O'Donnell won the 100-yard backstroke in 59.19 seconds, her fastest time of the season. Two events later, O'Donnell topped the field in the 100-yard butterfly in 57.91 seconds, just .13 seconds off the school record of 57.78 set by Alison Lesher at the 2008 NCAA Championships. On Sunday, O'Donnell teamed with seniors Sarah Casey (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) and Nicole Murphy (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee) and junior Sarah Salanger (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) to win the 400-yard medley relay in the opening event of the day with a time of 4:03.35.
On the men's side, Acquaviva opened Saturday morning's competition by placing first in the 200-yard backstroke in a season-best time of 1:57.75. In the night session on Saturday, Acquaviva touched the wall first in the 100-yard backstroke in 51.79 seconds, his fastest time of the year.
Le Moyne returns to the pool for its final home meet of the year on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 1:00 p.m. against Hartwick. The five-member senior class will be honored prior to the meet for their contributions to the program.
-agate-
Women's Team Results
1. Ithaca 933, 2. Nazareth 852, 3. Le Moyne 696, 4. Hartwick 520.5, 5. Rochester Institute of Technology 448.5, 6. Alfred 258.
Women's Individual Winners
200 Yard Medley Relay - Ithaca (Amanda Vitullo, Rebecca Blazak, Carly Jones, Sheila Rhoades 1:49.62, 1650 Yard Freestyle - Kelly Murphy (Ithaca) 18:13.92, 1 mtr Diving - Jodi Costello (Ithaca) 368.40, 200 Yard Backstroke - Katie O'Donnell (Le Moyne) 2:07.89, 100 Yard Freestyle - Sheila Rhoades (Ithaca) 52.25, 200 Yard Butterfly - Lauren McKinney (Nazareth) 2:09.24, 200 Yard Breaststroke - Carissa Risucci (Nazareth) 2:22.97, 800 Yard Freestyle Relay - Nazareth (Rachel Hayes, McKenna Murphy, Lauren McKinney, Jaclyn Conklin) 8:03.30, 3 mtr Diving - Jodi Costello (Ithaca) 368.40, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay - Ithaca (Lexi Brewer, Joanna Ferreri, Carly Jones, Sheila Rhoades) 1:40.68, 100 Yard Backstroke - Katie O'Donnell (Le Moyne) 59.19, 200 Yard Freestyle - Sheila Rhoades (Ithaca) 1:54.95, 100 Yard Butterfly - Katie O'Donnell (Le Moyne) 57.91, 100 Yard Breaststroke - Rebecca Blazak (Ithaca) 1:06.26, 400 Yard IM - Rebecca Blazak (Ithaca) 4:52.19, 400 Yard Medley Relay - Le Moyne (Sarah Casey, Nicole Murphy, Katie O'Donnell, Sarah Salanger) 4:03.35, 500 Yard Freestyle - Kelly Murphy (Ithaca) 5:23.38, 50 Yard Freestyle - Sheila Rhoades (Ithaca) 23.95, 200 Yard IM - Caitlyn Burr (RIT) 2:10.71, 400 Yard Freestyle Relay - Nazareth (Rachael Phipps, Lauren McKinney, McKenna Murphy, Jaclyn Conklin) 3:40.50.
Men's Team Results
1. Alfred 747, 2. Ithaca 744.5, 3. Hartwick 681.5, 4. Rochester Institute of Technology 658.5, 5. Le Moyne 464.5, 6. Nazareth 435.
Men's Individual Winners
200 Yard Medley Relay - Nazareth (RC Weston, Michael Bidwell, Jacob Kline, Rob Wortel 1:38.91, 1650 Yard Freestyle - Kenny Kleso (Hartwick) 17:11.61, 1 mtr Diving - Kameron Chambliss (Alfred) 419.40, 200 Yard Backstroke - Drew Acquaviva (Le Moyne) 1:57.75, 100 Yard Freestyle - Jeff Kaemmerlen (RIT) 47.67, 200 Yard Butterfly - Greg Pilgrim (Alfred) 2:00.56, 200 Yard Breaststroke - Michael Phillips (Hartwick) 2:09.67, 800 Yard Freestyle Relay - Hartwick (Kenny Kleso, Eric Goble, Chris Wilcox, Michael Phillips) 7:14.44, 3 mtr Diving - Kameron Chambliss (Alfred) 431.45, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay - RIT (Jeff Kaemmerlen, Kevin Christiansen, Ryan Brannan, Ryan Marchant) 1:27.68, 100 Yard Backstroke - Drew Acquaviva (Le Moyne) 51.79, 200 Yard Freestyle - Michael Phillips (Hartwick) 1:44.48, 100 Yard Butterfly - Jacob Kline (Nazareth) 52.88, 100 Yard Breaststroke - Jeff Kaemmerlen (RIT) 59.13, 400 Yard IM - Jeff Rapp (Ithaca) 4:23.66, 400 Yard Medley Relay - Alfred (Andrew Brisson, Warren Dolben, Greg Pilgrim, Tyler Olsen) 3:38.17, 500 Yard Freestyle - Kenny Kleso (Hartwick) 4:53.76, 50 Yard Freestyle - Jeff Kaemmerlen (RIT) 21.24, 200 Yard IM - Michael Phillips (Hartwick) 1:58.43, 400 Yard Freestyle Relay - Alfred (Andrew Moragne, Dan Steere, Tyler Olsen, Andrew Brisson) 3:13.99.
