Ithaca, N.Y. – Senior Tara O'Donnell (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem) recorded three top-six finishes to lead the Le Moyne College women's swimming and diving team to a sixth-place finish at the three-day, 11-team Fifth Annual Ithaca Bomber Invitational at the Ithaca Athletics and Events Center Aquatics Pavillion. Junior Tim Buff (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) and sophomore Travis May (Mount Kisco, N.Y./Fox Lane) each posted two top-eight finishes to lead the men's team to a fifth-place finish.

On the women's side, Cornell University easily captured the team victory with 2060.5 points, while LaSalle University finished in second place with 1204.5 points. SUNY Geneseo placed third with 999.5 points, while the host Bombers came in fourth with 825.5 points. After Shippensburg was fifth with 714 points, the Dolphins recorded 631.5 points to place sixth.
 
Cornell was also victorious on the men's side with 2085 points, while Geneseo picked up 1138 points for second place. LaSalle was third with 982 points, while Hartwick College was fourth with 782.5. The Dolphins registered 688 points to land in fifth place.
 
O'Donnell recorded 93.5 of Le Moyne's 631.5 points with her three top-six finishes and an 11th-place finish. She opened the weekend by placing 11th in the 200-yard IM in a season-best 2:10.53. On Saturday morning, she tied for sixth place in the 100-yard butterfly by touching the wall in a season-best 58.47 seconds. She earned her first third-place finish of the invitational with a season-best time of 58.09 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke. She completed the weekend by placing third in the 200-yard backstroke in a season-best 2:04.68.

Sophomore Alyssa Baker (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua) earned 83 individual points with four top-12 finishes. She opened invitational by placing seventh in the 50-yard freestyle in a career-best 24.34 seconds. In Saturday's morning session, she registered a career-best time of 58.44 seconds to place fifth in the 100-yard butterfly. She placed ninth in the 100-yard backstroke in 59.75 seconds, her best time in the event in her career. She closed out the weekend by placing 12th in the 200-yard backstroke in a career-best 2:10.27.
 
Sophomore Kelsey Smith (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) was the third Dolphin to record a pair of top-seven finishes as part of a 69-point weekend. In her first event, she placed 12th in the 200-yard IM in a season-best 2:10.57. After placing 19th in the 100-yard butterfly in a career-best 1:01.30 on Saturday morning, she placed seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday evening in a season-best 1:06.40. She turned in her best performance of the weekend in her final event, the 200-yard breaststroke, with a fifth-place finish in 2:27.55, the second-best time of her career in the event.

O'Donnell, Baker and Smith joined sophomore Sarah Gaffney (Livonia, N.Y./Livonia) to place in the top-four in three relay events. The quartet completed Friday night's competition by placing third in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:47.56, the second-fastest time by a Le Moyne quartet in the program's history. In the 200-yard freestyle relay to open Saturday morning's events, the quartet placed fourth in a school-record time of 1:38.54. The time eclipses the previous mark of 1:39.11 set during the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference Championship. They wrapped up competition at the invitational with another school record by posting a time of 3:33.60 in the 400-yard freestyle relay to place third. The previous mark of 3:36.47 was set at the 2010 UNYSCSA Championship. Smith, Gaffney and O'Donnell added another school record on Saturday night by teaming with senior Katelyn Votapka (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) to register a time of 7:51.29 in the 800-yard freestyle relay to place third. The previous mark of 7:55.49 was posted at the 2009 UNYSCSA Championship. To close out Saturday morning's session, Baker and Gaffney teamed with sophomore Annie Steve (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) and freshman Emily Nicastro (Rochester, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) to place seventh in the 400-yard medley relay in 4:07.62.

Votapka registered 25 individual points for the second straight year at the Bomber Invitational. In the first event of the weekend, she placed 20th in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:22.17, her fastest time in the event since her freshman season. She also placed 20th in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:58.29. She opened Sunday's competition by placing 12th in the 1650-yard freestyle in 18:19.15.

Nicastro added 29 individual points by scoring in two events. On Saturday night, she placed 10th in the 200-yard butterfly by recording a time of 2:18.28, the top time by a Dolphin in two seasons, while she placed 15th in the 100-yard IM on Sunday in 1:04.94. Steve added 18 points over three events. She placed 22nd in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:11.23), 17th in the 100-yard IM (1:05.26) and 19th in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:35.58). Senior Meghan Myers (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) recorded 16 points by placing 20th in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:25.77 and 16th in the 100-yard IM in 1:04.97. Freshman Kylee Wilson (Conesus, N.Y./Livonia) and sophomore Brittney Liddy (Rome, N.Y./Rome Free Academy/Iona) totaled 11 and 10 points in the two diving events, respectively. Wilson posted 246.95 points to place 19th off the three-meter board, while Liddy had 231.55 points to place 21st. Off the one-meter board, Liddy placed 19th with 263.45 points and Wilson placed 20th with 254.95 points.

On the men's side, Buff tallied 73.5 of Le Moyne's 688 points by placing in the top-15 in four events, including a pair in the top eight. He opened the invitational by finishing 12th in the 500-yard freestyle in a season-best 4:49.58. He then touched the wall eighth in the 400-yard IM in a season-best 4:14.29. After placing 15th in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:58.84, his best time since his freshman year, he closed out his weekend by placing sixth in the 200-yard breaststroke in a season-best 2:11.09.
 
May placed in the top-15 in all four of his events. In his first event, the 200-yard IM, he placed eighth in 1:59.15. He then finished in 13th place in the 100-yard butterfly in 52.63 seconds. On Saturday night, he placed 15th with a career-best time of 1:59.96 in the 200-yard butterfly. He capped the weekend by tying for sixth place in the 100-yard IM in 53.82 seconds.

May was also part of four top-eight relay teams. He and seniors Chris Mosconi (Gloversville, N.Y./Gloversville), Ben Verdi (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's) and Daniel Tarbrake (Beltsville, Md./Gonzaga College High) opened the invitational by placing third in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:35.56. To close out Saturday morning's competition, the quartet placed seventh in the 400-yard medley relay in 3:33.26. May and Tarbrake teamed with freshman Cory Knapp (Weedsport, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) and senior Mike Bardo (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xavier) on Saturday morning to place sixth in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:27.66. May and Knapp closed out the weekend by teaming with sophomore Andy Raiola (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xavier) and senior Zarian Cleare (Nassau, Bahamas/Queen's College) to place eighth in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:12.75. The quartet of Buff, Knapp, Raiola and Cleare recorded a seventh-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay on Saturday night in 7:10.33.

Verdi tallied 61 points over four individual events. On Friday night, he placed 21st in the 200-yard IM in a career-best 2:01.68. He recorded 12 points by placing 15th in the 400-yard IM in 4:23.34. On Saturday evening, he registered his best finish of the weekend by touching the wall fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke in 58.87 seconds. He completed the weekend by finishing ninth in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:12.65.

Tarbrake posted a pair of top-nine performances as part of a 51-point weekend. After placing 23rd in the 200-yard IM in a season-best 2:03.91, he finished eighth in the 100-yard butterfly in a season-best 51.89 seconds. On Saturday evening, he recorded a time of 1:57.13 to place ninth in the 200-yard butterfly. He capped the weekend by placing 18th in the 100-yard IM in 55.73 seconds.
 
Senior Josh Byrne (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) earned 42 points in the two diving events. On Friday night, he registered 417.65 points to place fifth and earn 25 points in the one-meter event. He then placed 10th with 389.65 points in the three-meter event on Saturday.

Raiola combined to total 39 points with season-best times in four events. He posted 21st-place finishes in the first and last events of the weekend, the 500-yard freestyle (4:54.25) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:22.14). On Saturday morning, he placed 12th in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:47.36, while he placed 11th in the 200-yard butterfly in 1:57.85 in the evening.

Knapp registered 38.5 points in three events. On Friday night, he turned in a 13th-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle in 21.77 seconds. He posted a time of 1:47.62 in the 200-yard freestyle to place 14th and then closed out the invitational by placing 15th in the 100-yard freestyle in 48.47 seconds.

Mosconi added 23 points to the team's total by scoring in three events. In his first event of the invitational, he placed 22nd in the 200-yard IM in 2:02.36. On Saturday night, he placed 19th in the 100-yard backstroke in 54.95 seconds. He posted his best performance in his last event, the 200-yard breaststroke, by placing 13th in a career-best 2:16.24.

Following the semester break, the Dolphins return to the pool on Wednesday, January 13th at Alfred University at 1:00 p.m.