BUFFALO, N.Y. – Cortland rode the strength of three school-record performances to take the lead after the first full day of action at the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Cortland currently has 256 points, 53 ahead of second-place and 14-time defending league champion Geneseo's 203 points. Oneonta (150), Fredonia (138) and Potsdam (104) round out the top five in the nine-team field with two days remaining. The championship is being held at the Burt Flickinger Center at Erie Community College.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of senior Dan Maximowicz (Chenango Forks), junior Luke Strothenke (New Paltz), freshman Mark Schoenherr (New Rochelle/Iona Prep) and senior Judd Simon (Oneida) set new SUNYAC, meet and school records and hit an NCAA “B” cut with its winning time of 1:22.89. Afterwards, they swam again in a time trial and improved their school record and NCAA qualifying time with a performance of 1:22.18 (time trials can't be used to set SUNYAC or meet records). The previous conference record was 1:23.24 by Geneseo in 2011 and the previous school mark was 1:23.57 by Dan Evans, Drew Hilker, Matt Young and James McCabe in 2009.

Freshman Andrew Cremer (Blue Point) finished second in the 500-yard freestyle. He broke the school record with his prelim time of 4:38.55 then clocked a 4:38.71 in the finals. Current assistant coach Corey Ryon set the previous school mark of 4:40.40 in 1998.

Senior Dan Maximowicz (Chenango Forks) recorded an NCAA “B” cut with his prelim time of 20.82 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle. He finished second in the finals in 21.04 seconds.

The 400-yard medley relay of senior Ben Strickand (Stanfordville/HomeSchool), senior Dan MacQuarrie (Vestal), freshman Mathew Hasbrouck (New Paltz) and freshman Reeve Callen (Oswego) set a school record with its fourth-place time of 3:28.43. That time broke the previous record set last year by Strickland, Danny Salvatore, Dylan Scheemaker and Maximowicz by 14 hundredths of a second.

Simon finished third in the 200-yard individual medley in 1:56.00 (1:55.88 in prelims), Schoenherr was third in the 50-yard freestyle in 21.37 seconds (21.08 in prelims) and junior Mark Hanifin (Fort Plain) placed third in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:44.48. 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.

Senior Justin Nelson (Jamestown/Frewsburg) finished fifth in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:46.12 (4:45.55 in prelims) and Strothenke was fifth in the 50-yard freestyle in 21.84 seconds (21.67 in prelims). Callen placed sixth in the 50-yard freestyle (21.91, 21.77 in prelims), junior Brandon McManus (Pittsford/Pittsford-Mendon) was sixth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:46.73, 4:45.50 in prelims) and freshman Lee Wade (Holtsville/Sachem East) finished sixth in 1-meter diving (405.90 points). Strickland joined Simon in the 200-yard individual medley finals and finshed seventh (1:57.93, 1:57.43 in prelims).

Six other Red Dragons scored points. Junior Kyle McManus (Oakdale/Connetquot), junior Dominic Lenzo (Endicott/Maine-Endwell) and junior Gregory MacDonald (Monroe Township, NJ/St. Joseph's) finished 11th (323.15 points), 12th (313.55 points) and 14th (256.30 points), respectively, in 1-meter diving. Hasbrouck finished 12th in the 200-yard IM (1:57.93), sophomore Alex Spatzer (Buffalo/Kenmore West) finished 15th in the 500-yard freestyle (4:54.63) and freshman Jack Jakubek (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) placed 15th in the 200-yard IM (2:02.00, 2:01.58 in prelims).

Live Results

2013 SUNYAC Men's Swimming and Diving Championships

STANDINGS AFTER DAY 1  (Feb. 21)

1) Cortland – 256
2) Geneseo – 203
3) Oneonta – 150
4) Fredonia – 138
5) Potsdam – 104
6) New Paltz – 96
7) Brockport – 64
8) Buffalo St. – 54
9) Oswego – 44