By Chris Berry, '07 |Staff Reporter

Amanda Wagner (Jr) swims the first leg in the 400 yards medley against SUNY New Paltz. The women lost, 112-72.

Photo by Rahmani Alford, '08

The swimming and diving team find themselves floating in the same boat as all of the other athletic teams here at Morrisville State College-adjusting to the new NCAA competition. 

Both the men’s and the women’s teams picked up their first and only win of the season at home against Wells College back on Oct. 19. 

The women started things off smoothly with a victory in the 200 yard medley relay.  Aimee Widger, Sheila Levchak, Emily Olson, and Rachel Erkan placed first with a time of 2:16.07.  Erkan ended up finishing in first place for the 1,000 and 500 yard freestyles.  Levchak helped by taking second in the 1,000 yard freestyle, and first place in the 200 yard backstroke.  Emily Olson also finished in first place in both the 100 yard backstroke and 100 yard butterfly. 

The men’s relay finished the 200 yard medley relay in first place with John Lamphere, Liam Faudree, Charlie Bisnett, and Sean Lawrence finishing with a time of 2:23.74.  Faudree, a senior leader on the team, took second place in the 100 and 200 yard breaststrokes.  Lamphere pitched in by finishing in second place in the 200 yard backstroke and 500 yard freestyle.  Dave Lucas cleaned house by finishing in first place in the 50 and 200 yard freestyles, as well as the 200 yard breaststroke. 

The men’s and women’s team both share the same record of 1-2.  They certainly didn’t receive a warm welcome starting the season off in Fredonia, with the men’s team losing 143-44, and the women’s team losing 157-69.  Both teams also lost against SUNY New Paltz.

Head coach Maggie Bintz is proud and optimistic of her team.  Bintz says, “Everyone on the team is doing very well as far as swimming season best and lifetime best times against this higher level of competition.” 

Just as all of the other athletic teams at the college, the swimming team is expected to take some time to get used to their new NCAA Division 3 opponents.

“We’ve done pretty well,” said John Lamphere, a freshman from Canajoharie, N.Y., “It’s our first year in D-3, so we’re not going to win a lot, but everyone seems to be improving.”

Bintz is trying to put together a team that will give an excellent perception of Morrisville swimming.  “We will be working to bring in some new student-athletes and grow our numbers as well as our talent base over the next few years,” says Bintz.

The team will wrap up the semester at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division 3 Championships held on the weekend of Dec. 1, at the Nassau County Aquatics Center.  They will pick up action in the spring semester on Jan. 13 at Buffalo State College.