BUFFALO, N.Y. – Sophomore Sarah Culmo (West Islip) broke the school record with a victory in the 100-yard freestyle and led off the second-place 400-yard freestyle relay team that eclipsed its own school record during the final day of competition at the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Cortland finished in third place out of nine schools with 633 points. The Red Dragons have finished in the top three at the championship eight times in the last nine years. Geneseo won its fifth straight SUNYAC crown with 721.5 points, followed by Fredonia with 657.5 points. Rounding out the standings after Cortland were New Paltz (500), Oneonta (320), Brockport (245), Oswego (219), Buffalo State (174) and Potsdam (125).

Cortland 10th-year head coach Brian Tobin was selected as the SUNYAC Women's Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year in a vote of the league's coaches. He previously won the award during the 2009-10 season. Cortland finished 9-3 in dual meets this winter and broke 10 school records during the SUNYAC Championships.

Culmo posted a winning time and NCAA “B” cut of 52.10 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle. She broke the school record of 53.54 seconds, which current teammate Jessica Evans (Hamburg) set last season, with a time of 52.51 seconds in prelims, then broke the mark again in the finals.

Culmo, Evans, sophomore Caitlin Lanigan (West Seneca/West Seneca West) and senior Michelle Seeger (Oneonta) broke their own school record in the 400-yard freestyle relay with an NCAA “B” cut time of 3:32.25. The same quartet, with Culmo swimming the anchor, set the previous record of 3:34.36 last year.

Junior Abigail MacDonald (East Amherst/Williamsville North) improved on her own school record in the 200-yard backstroke with a third-place time of 2:08.06, four tenths of a second better than her mark from last season.

Sophomore Chrisanna Hickey (Hopewell Junction/John Jay East Fishkill) placed second in the 200-yard butterfly with an NCAA “B” cut time of 2:08.48, while freshman Krista Caputo (Staten Island/Curtis) finished third in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 18:04.88 (her 1,000-yard freestyle split time of 10:49.94 during the race is a new school record). All individual champions at the meet earn first-team All-SUNYAC honors. Second-place and third-place individual finishers are awarded second-team all-league status.

Evans finished fourth in the 100-yard freestyle (53.40, 53.26 in prelims) and freshman Michaela Auer (Oswego) was fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:31.41). Seeger placed seventh in the 100-yard freestyle (54.01), and junior Kelsey Roe (Auburn) tied for seventh in the 200-yard backstroke (2:13.71). Senior Sara Wynne (Wantagh) was seventh in one-meter diving (374.45 points), with sophomore Lindsay Wigderson (Webster/Webster Thomas) narrowly behind her in eighth place (374.40 points).

Lanigan won the “B” final for a ninth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (55.01). Other Cortland scorers on the final day included senior Laura Bohneberg (Lockport) and freshman Ashley Sherard (Valley Stream) with 13th-place (2:34.59) and 14th-place (2:34.75) finishes, respectively, in the 200-yard breaststroke and sophomore M.K. Dugue (Binghamton/Chenango Forks) with a 16th-place showing in the 100-yard freestyle (55.31, 55.07 in prelims).

Complete Women's Results

Complete Final Results - Men and Women (PDF)

Results Page


2012 SUNYAC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships

FINAL STANDINGS (Feb. 11)

1) Geneseo – 721.5
2) Fredonia – 657.5
3) Cortland – 633
4) New Paltz – 500
5) Oneonta – 320
6) Brockport – 245
7) Oswego - 219
8) Buffalo St. - 174
9) Potsdam – 125