Women's Swimming & Diving

Brinkman Adds 3-Meter Titles as Hawks Finish 5th at UNYSCSA Championships

SYRACUSE, NY - Senior Ashley Brinkman (Ottawa, OH) completed a state and conference sweep on Saturday as she took first in 3-meter diving to lead the Hartwick women's swimming and diving team in the final day of competition at the Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association (UNYSCSA) Championships which occurs in conjunction with the Empire 8 Championships. Brinkman also won the 1-meter championship on Thursday. She now has two state titles, seven Empire 8 titles, and she has won both 1-meter and 3-meter conference events three times in four years.

As a team, Hartwick placed 4th of seven squads in the conference, and 5th out of 17 institutions in the state with 775.50 points. The Hawks placed sixth at last season's meet.

Hartwick junior Erin Gray (Gardner, MA) earned second team all-conference honors in the 1650-yard freestyle with a second-place finish. Her time of 17:39.93 is an NCAA Div. III provisional qualifying time and is the second-fastest time in the event in Hartwick history.

In the 100-yard freestyle, freshmen Stephanie Ha (Everett, WA) and Kristie Grunert (Oakland, CA) placed 10th and 13th, respectively. Ha's time in the B-Final (53.84) was good enough for second on the all-time Hartwick charts. Grunert's 54.15 showing in the preliminaries ranks third.

Senior Casey Whittaker (Salisbury, MA) and freshman Abby Wright (Holliston, MA) qualified for the finals of the 200 butterfly. Whittaker finished sixth and Wright took seventh in the state. The duo, along with senior Katie Swanson (Franklin, MA) who placed 12th overall, each cracked the all-time Hartwick top-10 in the event on the day.

Wright also made the finals of the 200 backstroke finishing 8th overall. Katie Holmes (Cotuit, MA) was one spot ahead of her in 7th. Robyn Smith (Jupiter, FL) ended the race in 9th. All three recorded a Hartwick top-10 time on the day with Smith garnering Second Team All-E8 honors with her time of 2:10.80 in the B-finals.

Kate Ahrendtsen's (New Hartford, NY) time in the 200 breaststroke (2:31.37) ranks 4th all-time at Hartwick. Wick's 400 free relay team of Ha, Shannan Lambert (Gardner, MA), Smith and Grunert also earned a 7th place finish in the state.

Team Standings (Final): 1. Ithaca (1,338 points); 2. Stevens (1,161.50); 3. Union (1,018); 4. Nazareth (880.50); 5. Hartwick (775.50); 6. Le Moyne (716); 7. RPI (588); 8. RIT (447.50); 9. St. Lawrence (432); 10. Vassar (368.50); 11. Clarkson (288); 12. Alfred (265.50); 13. Skidmore (224); 14. William Smith (209); 15. Utica (201); 16. Cazenovia (137).