ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é

In Review

The women’s swimming and diving team won a seventh straight Liberty League championship while the men’s team had two outstanding performers. Women’s basketball is back in the top 25 polls while the men are getting top-notch scoring performances. Squash is nationally ranked and the track and field teams have qualified some individuals for regional championships.

Here’s a roundup as the winter season was getting under way.

Winter

Women’s swimming and diving: The Yellowjackets bested host RPI by nearly 200 points to win their seventh consecutive swimming and diving crown. Individually, Vicky Luan ’16 was part of two Liberty League records and one pool record. She won the 50-yard freestyle, breaking the league record, and swam on the 400-yard free relay with Emily Simon ’17, Natalie Wong ’19, and Becca Selznick ’19 which also broke a league record. The quartet also set an RPI pool record in the 200-yard free relay. Alex Veech ’17 set a ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é record and posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 100-yard breaststroke. Jen Enos ’17 won the league 1,650-yard freestyle for the third straight year, and Emily Simon ’17 set a league mark in the 100-yard freestyle. On the diving board, Danielle Neu ’17 posted qualifying scores on both the one- and three-meter boards for the NCAA regional diving qualifier meet scheduled for late February.

Men’s swimming and diving: Gunnar Zemering ’18 and Elliott Schwinn ’19 took home the primary league awards. ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é finished second behind RPI, posting twice as many points as third-place RIT. Zemering was named the men’s Swimmer of the Meet, one year after he won the men’s Rookie of the Meet honor. He had three individual wins and two relay wins in his seven races. He set a league record by winning the 100- and the 50-yard freestyle. He swam on the winning 400-yard free relay that set a league mark as well. The other swimmers were Danny Aronson ’19, Ryan Berger ’17, and Dylan Sharkey ’16.

Schwinn won the 1,650-yard freestyle, setting a league record, posting an NCAA provisional qualifying time, and breaking the existing ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é record by 22 seconds. He set league records in the 400-yard intermediate medley and the 500-yard freestyle.

Women’s basketball: The Yellowjackets opened the season with six straight wins and stood at 7–1 overall in mid-December. Al Leslie ’18 was named the UAA Player of the Week after getting 25 points and 21 rebounds in a three-point win at Ithaca. ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é had four straight games against teams which made the NCAAs last year, losing a close battle to Geneseo in the Wendy’s Classic, then topping St. John Fisher for third place. The third game came against Ithaca and the fourth awaited just before New Year’s in the San Juan (Puerto Rico) Shootout. The opponent was Montclair University, which reached the Final Four last season. ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é was ranked 21st in the media poll and 23rd in the coaches’ poll at the break.

Men’s basketball: Jared Seltzer ’16 and Sam Borst-Smith ’17 formed a potent one-two scoring combination for the men who won six of their first 10 games. ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é won the Chuck Resler Tournament and reached the championship game of the final Wendy’s College Classic before Roberts Wesleyan prevailed, 79–77. Seltzer went on a torrid scoring stretch, getting 66 points in three games to accompany 34 rebounds. He was averaging 19.0 points per game at the break. Borst-Smith, who missed one game with an injured hand, was scoring at a 16.9 clip.

Men’s track and field: Brant Crouse ’17 (500 meters), Jon Kuberka ’16 (long jump), and Boubacar Diallo ’16 (triple jump) all qualified in their events for the ECAC championships in March.

Women’s track and field: Alexandra Goldman ’17 qualified for ECACs in both the 20-pound weight throw and the shot put in the season’s first meet. Emily VanDenburgh ’16 qualified in the long jump as did Amanda Hall ’16. Graduate student Yvette Igbokwe qualified in the 60-meter dash.

Squash: The Yellowjackets were 2–1 in their first three matches, defeating Drexel and Princeton, but falling to a vastly improved Pennsylvania team.

Fall

Women’s cross country qualified for the NCAA Division III national championship race as a team for the first time since 1987. The Yellowjackets finished 14th in a field of 32 squads. In the regional race, ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é was 5th of 37 teams. Catherine Knox ’16 and Anne Peterson ’17 took home all-regional honors.

Field hockey earned an NCAA bid, won a first-round home game, and upended a higher-ranked team to get to the national quarterfinals. ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é defeated Misericordia, 2–1, in the first round at Fauver. Michelle Relin ’16 scored two goals in the last 10 minutes to rally ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é.

In a Sweet 16 match with Salisbury University, the 20th-ranked Yellowjackets defeated No. 7 Salisbury, 3–2, when Callie Fisher ’17 broke a 2–2 tie with seven seconds remaining. ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é finished 18-6 after an Elite Eight loss to fourth-ranked Ursinus College in the quarterfinals.

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Dennis O’Donnell is director of athletics communications for the Department of Athletics and Recreation.