New Haven, Conn. – Juniors Josh Byrne (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) and Daniel Tarbrake (Beltsville, Md./Gonzaga College Prep) each won two events to lead the Le Moyne College men's swimming and diving team to a third-place finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships hosted by Southern Connecticut State University at the Hutchinson Natatorium from Thursday to Sunday. Junior Tara O'Donnell (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem) recorded three top-three finishes to lead the women's team to a sixth-place finish.

In the men's team competition, Le Moyne recorded 598 points to place third for the third consecutive year. Southern Connecticut State won its fifth straight conference title and 11th in the last 12 years with 895 points. Bentley was just 53 points behind to finish in second place for the third straight year with 842 points. The College of Saint Rose finished fourth with 545 points, while Adelphi University placed fifth with 284 points. Saint Michael's College finished sixth with 239 points and Pace University rounded out the standings with 225 points.
 
On the women's side, Le Moyne registered 335 points, an improvement of 86 from last year, to place sixth for the second straight year. Assumption College cruised to its second consecutive team championship with 931 points. Bentley University edged Southern Connecticut State for second place by 11 points, 592 to 581. The College of Saint Rose was 24 points behind in fourth place with 557 points. Pace University took fifth place for the second straight year with 406 points. Following the Dolphins was Saint Michael's College with 172 points and Adelphi University with 153. Merrimack College rounded out the standings with 70 points.

Byrne, named the Men's Diving Championship Most Valuable Athlete for the third consecutive year, swept the two diving events for the second straight year. He claimed first place in the one-meter diving event for the second straight year on Thursday night by registering 485.45 points, his highest total in three appearances at the NE-10 Championships. On Sunday afternoon, he was victorious in the three-meter diving event for the third consecutive year with 484.55 points, 84.55 points higher than second place and his highest total in the event in three appearances at the Championships.

Tarbrake was the team's top individual scorer with 55 points after posting his two wins, which both set school and Northeast-10 records, and a fourth-place finish. He registered his third career NE-10 gold medal on Saturday night by touching the wall first in the 100-yard butterfly for the second time in three years in a school and NE-10 record and NCAA "B"-cut time of 49.85 seconds. He eclipsed the previous school record of 50.78 seconds set by Ryan Lowrie in 2006, while besting the NE-10 mark of 50.58 seconds set by Southern Connecticut's Dan Elliot last year. He closed out his competition at the championship by winning the 200-yard butterfly for the second time in three years with a school and NE-10 record time of 1:51.22, just 0.11 seconds faster than the second place finisher, Southern Connecticut's Dylan Swanepoel. His time broke his previous school record of 1:53.95 set at last year's Championship, while the previous NE-10 record of 1:52.33 was set by Swanepoel last year. In his first individual event of the weekend, he placed fourth in the 200-yard IM in a career-best time of 1:56.63.

Tarbrake was also a member of two gold medal-winning relay teams. In the first event of the Championship, Tarbrake teamed with classmates Chris Mosconi (Gloversville, N.Y./Gloversville) and Ben Verdi (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's) and freshman Travis May (Mount Kisco, N.Y./Fox Lane) to win the 200-yard medley relay in 1:33.84, the best time by a Le Moyne quartet over the last five seasons. To close out Friday night's action, Tarbrake, Verdi and May teamed with sophomore Tim Buff (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) to win the 400-yard medley relay by 0.39 seconds with a time of 3:26.96, also the best time by a Le Moyne quartet over the last five seasons.

The Dolphins placed fourth in each of the other three relays over the weekend. Thursday night, Buff and Mosconi joined freshman Andy Raiola (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xavier) and junior Ronnie Lowe (Middletown, N.Y./Pine Bush) to place fourth in the 800-yard freestyle relay in a season-best 7:05.02. To cap Saturday's action, May and Raiola teamed with junior Michael Bardo (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xavier) and senior Ricky Divaccaro (Woodstown, N.J./Woodstown) to post a season-best time of 1:26.47 to place fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Divaccaro, Bardo, Lowe and Raiola closed out the Championship by placing fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:12.68, the best time in two years.

Buff was the team's second-highest scorer with 49 points off three top-three finishes. In his first individual event of the weekend, Buff touched the wall second in the 200-yard IM in 1:54.39, just 0.05 seconds off the school record set by Ricky Chidsey in 2006. On Saturday night, Buff registered a school record and NCAA "B"-cut time of 4:04.41 to place third in the 400-yard IM. The time eclipses his previous record time of 4:06.50 set at last year's Championship, when he also placed third in the event. He added his fourth career bronze medal on Sunday evening with a school-record time of 2:06.84 in the 200-yard breaststroke. The previous record of 2:07.72 was set by Jerry Dumary in 2009.

Verdi recorded a pair of top-five performances as part of a 37-point weekend. He picked up his third career NE-10 medal by placing third in the 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday night with a time of 58.35 seconds, the second-fastest time of his career. On Sunday evening, he placed fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:07.68, the second-fastest time in the program's history behind just Buff's time in the same heat. Verdi added seven points by placing 10th in the 400-yard IM in a career-best time of 4:17.48.

Raiola and May each added a pair of sixth-place finishes. On Friday night, Raiola placed sixth in the 500-yard freestyle in a season-best 4:44.32. He added a sixth-place finish in the final individual event of the weekend, the 200-yard butterfly, with a season-best time of 1:57.07. He also picked up nine points by placing ninth in the 400-yard IM on Saturday with a season-best time of 4:14.93. May earned his first sixth-place finish of the weekend with a season-best time of 1:57.06 on Friday night. He then registered a season-best time of 52.24 seconds to place sixth in the 100-yard butterfly on Saturday night.
 
Junior Zarian Cleare (Nassau, Bahamas/Queen's College) recorded three top-12 finishes to compile 22 points. He opened the weekend by placing eighth in the 100-yard butterfly in a career-best 52.67 seconds. He then placed 12th in the 100-yard backstroke in a personal-best 56.28 seconds and 11th in the 200-yard butterfly in a career-best 2:01.71.

Mosconi, Bardo and sophomore Phil Stolarski (Elma, N.Y./Iroquois) each recorded a top-seven finish over the weekend. Mosconi turned in a sixth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday night in a career-best 53.25 seconds. Bardo came in fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday evening with a career-best time of 1:00.07, while Stolarski placed seventh in the event in a season-best 1:01.35.

On the women's side, O'Donnell earned 50 individual points with her three top-three finishes. In her first event of the Championship, she placed second in the 50-yard freestyle in a school-record time of 24.22 seconds. The previous school record of 24.36 seconds was set by her sister Katie '12 at the 2012 NE-10 Championships. She captured her eighth career individual medal by placing third in the 200-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 1:54.54. On Sunday evening, O'Donnell picked up her sixth career silver medal in a season-best 2:04.50.

O'Donnell was also part of four top-seven finishing relay teams, including a pair of quartets that earned medals. On Thursday night, she teamed with freshmen Kelsey Smith (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley), Alyssa Baker (Canandaigua, N.Y./Canandaigua) and Lindsey Wright (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) to place second in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:47.69, the fastest time by a Le Moyne quartet over the last five years. The following night, the quartet earned a bronze medal in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:59.86, also the fastest time in over five years. The team combined on Saturday night to place fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:39.29, the fastest time since the 2011 NE-10 Championships. O'Donnell, Baker, Smith and senior Kerry Steve (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) closed out the Championship by placing seventh in the 400-yard freestyle in 3:38.93, the fastest time over the last five years. In Thursday night's final event, the 800-yard freestyle relay, Steve teamed with junior Katelyn Votapka (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) and freshmen Calee Coleman (Middleport, N.Y./Royalton Hartland) and Sarah Gaffney (Livonia, N.Y./Livonia) to place seventh in 8:14.23.

Smith registered a school record and two second-place finishes as part of a 49-point performance over the four days. She opened the Championship by placing second in the 200-yard IM in 2:08.49. Smith then set a school record in the 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday night with a time of 1:05.38 to claim her second silver medal. The previous school record of 1:05.8 was set by Nicole Murphy in 2010. She closed out the weekend by finishing fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:27.52, the fastest time by a Dolphin since Murphy in 2010.
 
Baker placed in three individual events to compile 23 points. In her first event of the Championship, she placed ninth in the 50-yard freestyle in 25.07 seconds. She then picked up 11 points in the 100-yard butterfly by placing eighth in 1:00.75. Baker capped the weekend by placing 14th in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:02.41.

Freshman Annie Steve (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) registered a pair of top-11 finishes in the breaststroke events to record 15 points. In the 100-yard breaststroke, she placed ninth with a season-best time of 1:09.33. She then registered a season-best time of 2:34.61 to place 11th in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Sophomore Allison Miedaner (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) earned 11 points in her conference championship debut by placing eighth in the one-meter diving event with 289.30 points.