LEWISBURG, P.A. - The men's and women's swimming and diving teams moved up in the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) national poll, announced on Friday, November 14. The men's team moved up an impressive seven spots from the October poll, coming in at #18, while the women's team moved into the rankings at #23.
The Knights are off to an impressive start this season, with both teams sitting at 7-0 following a strong showing this past weekend. Geneseo split up their teams between the DIII Shootout at Chicago, and a home tri-meet against Top-25 teams in Trinity (TX) and RIT. The Knights swept the tri-meet with ease, as the men defeated RIT 206-83 and Trinity 186-102, while the women's team won by scores of 233-32 and 160-71, respectively. Geneseo swept the Empire 8 weekly honors following their performances at the DIII Shootout, with
Alex Palmer and
Greg Meder winning the men's swimming and diving honors, while
Alex Sotek and
Lydia Benjamin picked up the women's honors.
Palmer provided the big highlight for the Knights on day one of the DIII Shootout, breaking the program record for the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 54.84 and a first place finish out of the 10 teams competing. Palmer's time also marked an NCAA "B" cut effort. After breaking the program record in the 100-yard breaststroke on Friday in the DIII shootout, Palmer took second in the 200-yard breaststroke on Saturday, recording a time of 2:01.28. It is Palmer's second E8 weekly accolade of the season.
Meder was dominant at the DIII Shootout over the weekend, winning both the 1- and 3-meter diving events. Meder took first overall in the 1-meter dive with a score of 316.60, then followed it up on Saturday with a 363.60 score in the 3-meter event, topping the event record set by former teammate and NCAA National Champion
Trent Makowiec to earn his third straight E8 weekly honor.
Sotek was stellar for the Knights at the DIII Shootout this past weekend, earning top-eight finishes in all six events, including two top-three finishes. In the 100-yard butterfly, Sotek placed second overall with a time of 56.22 seconds, then took third in the 50-yard freestyle, hitting the wall in 23.58 seconds. She placed sixth in both the 200- and 400- yard medley relay events and was seventh in the 200-yard butterfly at 2:10.95, and seventh as a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay team. It is Sotek's second straight E8 weekly accolade.
Benjamin was stellar for the Knights at the DIII Shootout hosted by Chicago this past weekend, finishing second and third in the 1- and 3-meter dives, respectively. Benjamin took second in the 1-meter diving event with a score of 258.80, then followed it up on Saturday with a third-place finish in the 3-meter with a score of 247.30.
Full press release from the CSCAA.
