Ithaca, N.Y. – Junior Tara O'Donnell (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem) registered a victory and three other top-five finishes to lead the Le Moyne College women's swimming and diving team to a sixth-place finish at the three-day, nine-team Ithaca Bomber Invitational at the Ithaca Athletics & Events Center Aquatics Pavilion. Sophomore Tim Buff (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) recorded four top-eight finishes to also lead the men's team to a sixth-place finish.

On the women's side, Cornell University captured the team victory with 1745.5 points, while SUNY Geneseo placed second with 1222.5 points. The host Bombers came in third with 879 points, while Shippensburg was fourth with 839 points. After Springfield tallied 812.5 points for fifth, the Dolphins posted 598 points to place sixth.

On the men's side, Cornell was also victorious with 1865.5 points, while Geneseo picked up 1137.5 points for second place. Ithaca was third with 897.5 points, while Hartwick College was fourth with 735. Following Springfield's fifth-place total of 671, the Dolphins recorded 634.5 points to land in sixth place.

O'Donnell registered 108 of Le Moyne's 598 points with her four top-five finishes. In her first individual event of the weekend, she placed fifth in the 200-yard IM with a season-best time of 2:11.98, which is her best time in the event since February 2013 at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships. On Saturday morning, she registered another fifth-place finish, this time in the 400-yard IM, where she posted a time of 4:39.75. Later that night, she turned in a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.70 seconds, just 0.92 seconds behind the first-place finisher. As she did a year ago at the invitational, O'Donnell closed out the invitational on Sunday by topping the field in the 200-yard backstroke with a season-best time of 2:05.76.

Freshman Kelsey Smith (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) earned 96 points over the four sessions with three top-five finishes among her four events. On Friday night, she was victorious in the 200-yard IM by over two and one-half seconds with a time of 2:07.36, the fastest time by a Dolphin other than Tara or Katie O'Donnell '12. After placing 14th in the 400-yard IM on Saturday morning with a time of 4:44.10, she earned 25 points on Saturday night by placing fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a season-best time of 1:06.41, the fastest time by a Dolphin over the last five seasons. She registered her second-best finish of the weekend by placing fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke on Sunday with a time of 2:28.12, which is also the fastest time by a Dolphin over the last five seasons.

Freshman Alyssa Baker (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua) picked up 74 individual points with a trio of top-10 finishes among her four events. She opened the invitational by placing 10th in the 50-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 24.86 seconds, the top time by a Dolphin since Tara O'Donnell recorded the same time at last year's invitational. She registered her best finish of the weekend on Saturday morning by posting a seventh-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:00.50, the top time by a Dolphin this season. Later that night, she finished eighth in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:01.77 to pick up 22 points. She completed her weekend by placing 15th in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:14.00.

O'Donnell, Smith and Baker teamed with freshman Lindsey Wright (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) to place in the top-five in four relay events. The quartet closed out Friday night's competition by placing second in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:48.82, just 0.18 seconds behind Cornell's first-place time and the fastest time by a Le Moyne team since the 2010 NCAA Championships. In the 400-yard medley relay on Saturday morning, the quartet placed fourth with a time of 4:01.09, the best time since the 2010 NCAA Championships. Earlier in the morning, they opened the competition by placing fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:40.66, the best time by a Dolphin quartet since the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference Championships. The wrapped up competition at the invitational with a fifth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:39.98, the top time since the 2011 Northeast-10 Championship.

Junior Katelyn Votapka (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) recorded 25 points by scoring in two events. After placing 20th in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:36.30, she placed ninth in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 18:40.18. Classmate Meghan Myers (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) earned 11 points in the two butterfly events. She placed 20th in the 100-yard butterfly in a career-best 1:03.67, while recording a 19th-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly in a season-best 2:32.04. Sophomore Allison Miedaner (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) recorded 11 points by placing 16th in the one-meter diving event with a score of 274.85. Freshman Annie Steve (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) posted 10 points in the two breaststroke events. She placed 20th in the 100-yard breaststroke in a season-best 1:10.33, while also placing 20th in the 200-yard breaststroke in a season-best 2:37.34.

On the men's side, Buff recorded 96 of the team's 634.5 points after registering a pair of fifth-place finishes as part of four top-eight finishes. In his first event of the weekend, he placed sixth in the 200-yard IM with a career-best time of 1:57.40. On Saturday morning, he recorded a time of 4:15.28 to place eighth and earn 22 points in the 400-yard IM. In his first event on the final day of the competition, he turned in a fifth-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:56.52, while three events later, he placed fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke to earn 25 points with a time of 2:10.42, the best time by a Dolphin since junior Ben Verdi (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's) at the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Championships.

Verdi earned 58 points over four events, which included a pair of top-seven finishes. In the two individual medleys, he placed 23rd in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:03.41, while he finished 17th in the 400-yard IM in 4:25.51. On Saturday evening, he placed sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke in a season-best 58.69 seconds to earn 24 points. He wrapped up his performance at the invitational with a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke with a season-best time of 2:11.09.

Freshman Andy Raiola (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xavier) picked up 56 points with four top-16 finishes. He opened the invitational with a 16th-place finish in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:01.25. On Saturday morning, he finished 14th in the 400-yard IM in 4:21.95. Later that night, he finished in 15th place with a season-best time of 53.71 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly. His final performance of the weekend was his best as he placed ninth in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:59.79, the top performance by a Dolphin other than teammate Daniel Tarbrake (Beltsville, Md./Gonzaga College High) over the last four seasons.

Tarbrake registered a pair of fifth-place finishes in the two butterfly events. On Saturday night, he registered a season-best time of 52.20 seconds to earn 25 points. He completed the weekend by posting a season-best time of 1:57.82 in the 200-yard butterfly. Classmate Josh Byrne (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) posted a seventh-place finish in each of the diving events. On Friday, he posted a score of 394.20 in the one-meter diving event to earn the Dolphins 23 points. He added 23 more points on Saturday after recording a score of 445.80 off the three-meter diving board. Freshman Travis May (Mount Kisco, N.Y./Fox Lane) tallied 38 points over three events. In his first event, the 200-yard IM, he placed 17th with a season-best time of 2:01.41. He then finished 14th in the 100-yard butterfly with a season-best time of 53.70 seconds, while placing 11th in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:03.12. Junior Chris Mosconi (Gloversville, N.Y./Gloversville) earned 28 points over three events. After earning one point in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:33.67, he placed 12th in the 100-yard backstroke with a season-best time of 55.01 seconds. He closed out the weekend by placing 14th in the 200-yard breaststroke in a career-best 2:18.32. Junior Zarian Cleare (Nassau, Bahamas/Queen's College) recorded 16 points in the two butterfly events. He picked up nine points by placing 17th in the 100-yard butterfly in a season-best 53.84 seconds, while placing 18th in the 200-yard butterfly in a season-best 2:06.77.

A pair of relay team recorded top-six performances over the weekend. On Friday night, the quartet of Mosconi, Verdi, Tarbrake and May placed fourth in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:36.71 to earn 52 points. To close out Saturday morning's competition, Buff, Verdi, Tarbrake and May teamed to place sixth in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:34.96.

Following the semester break, the Dolphins return to the pool on Friday, January 16th against Alfred University at 12:00 p.m.