Women's Swimming & Diving | 2/16/2017 10:04:00 PM
ITHACA, NY – Sophomore
Sedera Zbranak (Austin, TX/Lake Travis) became RIT's first swimmer to win an individual event in seven years, as the women's swimming and diving team is currently fifth out of 15 teams with 427 points after Thursday's action at the 2017 Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association (UNYSCSA) Championship held at the Ithaca College Athletics and Events Center. Host Ithaca leads the team competition with 778 points.
Zbranak took the 200-yard freestyle by 24 one-hundredths of a second over Danielle Caruso of Stevens in a school record time of 1:51.62. That is a NCAA "B" cut qualifying time and is among the fastest in Division III this season. Zbranak became RIT's first women's swimmer to win a race at the state championship since Caitlyn Burr in 2010,
Her time obliterated the previous school mark of 1:54.94, set by Burr, a 2015 RIT Athletics Hall of Famer in 2009.
The 400-yard medley relay team of
Brenna Woodling (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East),
Amy Adams (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy),
Genevieve Senecal (Westfield, MA/Westfield), and Zbranak crushed last year's school record by five seconds, finishing fourth overall in an impressive time of 3:54.78. The "B" team of
Emily Lederman (Morgantown, WV/Morgantown),
Megan O'Connor (Spring City, PA/Owen J. Roberts),
Olivia Phillips (Louisville, CO/Fairview), and
Katrina Mayer (Bristol, VT/Vergennes Union) had the seventh best time of the day (4:03.42) overall to lead all the "B" squads.
RIT's 200-yard freestyle relay team of Mayer,
Rachel Kobel (Bergen, NY/Byron-Bergen), Senecal, and
Daylen Smith (Lockwood, NY/Waverly) finished sixth overall in a time of 1:40.03, earning 48 team points. RIT's "B" team of
Eleanor O'Gorman (Yarmouth, ME/Yarmouth),
Amy Adams (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy),
Megan O'Connor (Spring City, PA/Owen J. Roberts), and
Sarah Evans (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) was 20th overall, despite recording the 12th fastest time of 1:42.29.
Senecal recorded an impressive sixth place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, breaking one minute in a time of 59.60 seconds. She was fifth in the preliminaries with a time of 59.08 seconds.
Megan Hawkes (Franklinville, NJ/Gloucester County) placed 22nd overall in 1:03.02.
Woodling was 15th in the 200-free with a time of 1:58.80, while
Daylen Smith (Lockwood, NY/Waverly) was 19th overall in 1:59.68. Lederman recorded a 20th place finish in the 400-yard individual medley in 4:51.70
RIT is right back in action on Friday for day three of the UNYSCSA Championships, starting with the preliminaries at 10 a.m. RIT will compete in the 200-yard butterfly, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard breaststroke, 800-meter freestyle relay, and 1-meter diving event.
