WEBSTER, N.Y. - The Geneseo Men's Swimming & Diving team won their first Empire 8 Conference championship, making it their 11th straight conference title. Sophomore Brian Pabisch was named Men's Swimmer of the Meet and Trent Makowiec was named Men's Diver of the Meet after their incredible performances this weekend. Coaches Paul Dotterwiech, Noah Farmer and Shaun Austin were also named Coaching and Diving Staff of the Year.
DAY ONE:
The Knights had an incredible showing on day one, with four first-place finishes. Colin Babbitt and Will Fagan started the day with a second and fourth place finish in the 500-yard freestyle, touching at 4:40.57 and 4:51.47. In the 200-yard IM, Geneseo swept the top three spots with Griffin Merkling, Alex Palmer and Connor Baird finishing at 1:50.23, 1:50.78 and 1:52.73, respectively. Merkling's time of 1:50.23 set a new Empire 8 meet record in the 200-yard IM.
Jordan Nielsen, Brian Pabisch and Jake Nielsen followed suit in the 50-yard freestyle, all finishing within .21 of each other: 20.44, 20.60 and 20.65 for first, second, and third, respectively but we joined by Dylan Gallub, Gannon Moore, Chris Varrichico and Arman Tresnjo who finished fifth through eighth. Geneseo took home first place in the 400-yard Medley Relay with Nielsen, Nielsen, Merkling and Baird finishing at 3:21.01 Trent Makowiec took first in the 3-meter dive while also setting a new meet record, scoring
DAY TWO:
Geneseo continued to lead the competition, with Connor Baird taking first in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:00.96, and teammates Will Fagan and Colin Babbitt finished close behind in third and fourth, with his time of 4:11.76 and 4:12.36. Brian Spanish and Jack Keene took the top two spots in the 100-yard butterfly touching at 49.30 and 50.54. In the 200-yard freestyle, Casey Connors, Dylan Gallub, Gannon Moore and Arman Tresnjo took second through fifth, all touching within .82 of each other. The team rounded out the evening with the 200-yard freestyle team of Nielsen, Nielsen, Gallub and Pabisch taking first place with the impressive time of 1:20.92.
DAY THREE:
Connor Briard finished on top in the 200-yard butterfly, with his time of 1:51.67. In the 100-backstroke, Alex Trzakowski tallied his first career conference title with a time of 50.88, while Chris Varrichico took third with his time of 51.23. Teammates Jake Nielsen and Alex Palmer finished in first and second in the 100-yard breaststroke, touching at 55.26 and 55.24. With their time of 6:56.35, the 800-yard freestyle relay team of Jake Nielsen, Brian Pabisch, Dylan Gallub and Casey Connors took first place, ten full seconds ahead of second place.
Trent Makowiec finished on top in the 1-meter dive with his score of 592.40. He also set a new championship meet record with his prelim score of 596.85. Greg Meder followed in second with his score of 545.80.
DAY FOUR:
Colin Babbitt and Will Fagan opened the day with a second and third place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle, touching the wall at 16:37.47 and 16:45.88. In the 100-yard freestyle, Brian Pabisch came out on top with his time of 44.84, narrowly outracing teammate Jake Nielsen's time of 45.53. Chris Varricchio represented Geneseo as the only athlete competing in the 200-yard backstroke and came out on top, finishing in first at 1:53.66. Alex Palmer had a great race in the 200-yard br4eaststroke, taking first place with his time of 2:00.42. Ciaran Keane and Alex Stoke finished close behind in third and fourth place. Jordan Niesel, Jake Nielsen, Brian Pabisch and Dylan Gallub led the Knights home in the 200-freestyle relay, taking first place with their time of 3:00.96, nine seconds ahead of the next team.
