BUFFALO, N.Y. – Sophomore Ben Strickland (Stanfordville/HomeSchool) set school and championship meet records in the 100-yard backstroke with his NCAA “B” cut time of 51.99 seconds to highlight Cortland's performances during Day 2 of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Cortland maintained its second-place spot in the team standings with one day remaining. Geneseo leads with 539 points, followed by Cortland with 449 points. New Paltz (301), Fredonia (247) and Buffalo State (202) are also in the top five.

Strickland broke the SUNYAC Championship Meet and Cortland records in the 100-yard backstroke preliminaries with a time of 52.54 seconds, then improved on that time with his NCAA “B” performance in the finals.

Freshman Matt Distler (Glens Falls) won the 200-yard freestyle title in 1:43.65. He also swam an outstanding anchor leg on Cortland's winning 800-yard freestyle relay team that also featured freshman Mark Hanifin (Fort Plain), Strickland and sophomore Justin Nelson (Jamestown/Frewsburg). Cortland was in third place and 1.5 seconds behind the leader entering the final 200-yard leg. Distler covered that distance in 1:39.04, including the opening 50 yards in 19.04 seconds, to give the Red Dragons the victory by more than seven seconds at 7:01.60.

Hanifin finished second in the 200-yard freestyle behind Distler with a time of 1:44.84 (1:44.50 in prelims). Cortland also placed second in the 200-yard medley relay with Strickland, junior Danny Salvatore (Clarence), junior Dylan Scheemaker (Fairport) and sophomore Dan Maximowicz (Binghamton/Chenango Forks) clocked at 1:35.14.

Scheemaker placed third in the 100-yard butterfly (52.67) and Salvatore was fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke (59.52, 59.18 in prelims). Nelson finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke (54.31) and junior Judd Simon (Oneida) finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly (53.30, 53.09 in prelims). Freshman Brandon McManus (Pittsford/Pittsford-Mendon) was eighth in the 100-yard butterfly (53.56), junior Mike Sorrentino (Glens Falls) won the “B” final in the 400-yard individual medley (4:22.61) and sophomore Dan MacQuarrie (Vestal) won the “B” final in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:00.21).


STANDINGS AFTER DAY 2

1) Geneseo – 539
2) Cortland – 449
3) New Paltz – 301
4) Fredonia – 247
5) Buffalo St. - 202
6) Oswego - 192
7) Oneonta - 176
8) Potsdam - 147
9) Brockport - 130