SUNYAC ATHLETES PREPARE FOR NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Eleven State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) swimmers and divers will head to the 2016 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving National Championships March 16-19 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.
INDIANAPOLIS - Eleven State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) swimmers and divers will head to the 2016 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving National Championships March 16-19 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Old Dominion Athletic Conference will serve as the host.
On the Women's side three divers and one alternate will represent the SUNYAC conference. Cortland's Miranda Fergus, Fredonia's Meghan Bartlett and Brockport's Meghan Kilgallon will compete at the NCAA meet. The alternate is Claudia Kowalkowski from Geneseo. She will be the first alternate for the 1-meter dive.
Fergus won the SUNYAC title in the 1-meter dive with a score of 475.40 and also finished second in the 3-meter with a score of 470.65. She went on to win the 3-meter board and placed second on the 1-meter at the Region 4 Women's Diving Championships. Bartlett won the 3-meter dive at the SUNYAC championship and took second in the 1-meter dive. She placed third in the 3-meter and fifth on the 1-meter at regionals. Kilgallon scored 402.70 in the 1-meter dive and 439.55 in the 3-meter dive at the SUNYAC meet. She placed third on the 1-meter and sixth on the 3-meter in Region 4.
On the Men's side four SUNYAC divers qualified as well as Cortland's Lee Wade representing the fist alternate for the 1-meter dive. Fredonia's Arron Carlson and Rafael Santiago are both headed to the National Championships after. Carlson broke the conference and meet record in the 3-meter dive at the SUNYAC championships and went on to win the 3-meter board at the Region 4 Men's Diving Championships. He also took second in the conference meet on the 1-meter dive and finished third at regionals. Santiago placed third in the conference on the 1-meter dive and second at the regional meet. He also had a strong performance in the 3-meter dive finishing fourth in the conference and regionals meets. Geneseo's Samuel Randall broke the conference and meet record in the 1-meter dive and came in first at the regionals. He also took second in the conference on the 3-meter dive and third in the region. Gabriel Arias from Brockport will also compete at the NCAA meet. He totaled 517.65 points in the 3-meter dive at the conference championships, while also scoring 473.90 in the 1-meter. He finished fifth on the 1-meter and 3-meter dives at the regional meet.
Two swimmers representing the SUNYAC will also compete in the NCAA championships.
On the men's side, Buffalo State's Connor Mergler will be headed to North Carolina. Mergler will compete in the 50, 100 and 200 free events. He posted qualifying times and set school records while capturing SUNYAC titles in all three events last month. He was also named SUNYAC Male Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet for his accomplishments.
Nancy Nasky, a freshman from Geneseo, will also compete in the NCAA Championships. Nasky broke the SUNYAC 1,650 free record with a time of 17:07.27 at the 2016 SUNYAC Championships. She also won the 500 freestyle in her first appearance at the conference meet.
Visit ncaa.com for more information on the 2015 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.
