Oneonta, N.Y. – Junior Ben Verdi (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's) registered four top-two finishes to lead the Le Moyne College men's swimming and diving team to a third-place finish at the Ninth Annual Hartwick College Relays on Saturday afternoon at Moyer Pool. Three members of the women's squad teamed for three first-place finishes to lead the Dolphins to a third-place finish.

The host Hawks won the men's meet with 118 points, while The College of Saint Rose placed second with 100. The Dolphins recorded 94 points to finish third, while SUNY Oneonta tallied 82 points for third. SUNY Cobleskill was fifth with 36 points and Wells College had eight points for sixth.

SUNY Oneonta won the women's meet with 102 points, while Saint Rose was just two points back in second. The Dolphins placed third with 92 points, two points ahead of the host Hawks. Cobleskill and Wells rounded out the standings with 48 and 14 points, respectively.

To open the men's portion of the meet, Verdi teamed with classmates Chris Mosconi (Gloversville, N.Y./Gloversville) and Daniel Tarbrake (Beltsville, Md./Gonzaga College High) and freshman Travis May (Mount Kisco, N.Y./Fox Lane) to place second in the 400-yard medley relay in 3:39.18. Two events later, Verdi teamed with junior Mike Bardo (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xavier) and freshman Pat McCormick (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) to finish second in the 3x100-yard breaststroke with a time of 3:11.74. In the seventh event, the 3x200-yard IM, sophomore Tim Buff (Latham, N.Y./Shaker), freshman Andy Raiola (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xavier) and Verdi placed second with a time of 6:19.18. In the following event, the quartet of Mosconi, Verdi, Tarbrake and senior Ricky Divaccaro (Woodstown, N.J./Woodstown) won the 200-yard medley relay almost one and one-half seconds in 1:39.71. Verdi, Buff, Raiola and junior Ronnie Lowe (Middletown, N.Y./Pine Bush) closed out the meet by placing third in the 800-yard medley relay with a time of 8:23.55. In the second event of the afternoon, Buff joined with Divaccaro and junior Zarian Cleare (Nassau, Bahamas/Queen's College) to place third with a time of 2:54.17 in the 3x100-yard backstroke. Tarbrake, May and Raiola combined to place second in the 3x100-yard butterfly with a time of 2:45.00. To cap the first half of the meet, Divaccaro, Lowe, Raiola and Buff registered a time of 8:06.54 to place second in the 850-yard crescendo relay, while Divaccaro and Lowe teamed with Tarbrake and May to finish third in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:31.24.

On the women's side, freshmen Alyssa Baker (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua) and Kelsey Smith (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) teamed with junior Tara O'Donnell (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem) won the second event of the afternoon, the 3x100-yard backstroke with a time of 3:04.61. The trio followed with a time of 3:09.20 to place second in the fourth event, 3x100-yard butterfly. Freshman Lindsey Wright (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) joined Baker, Smith and O'Donnell to win the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:44.15 to begin the second half of the meet. Two events later, the quartet won the 200-yard medley relay by two and one-half seconds with a time of 1:55.19. In the one-meter diving event, the duo of junior Chrystina Murray (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) and sophomore Allison Miedaner (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) placed second with 246.25 points.

The Dolphins are back in the pool on Sunday, November 2 at 1:00 p.m. at Northeast-10 Conference foe Bentley University.