BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Cortland women's swimming and diving team finished in second place out of nine schools at the 2022 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championships, conducted Wednesday through Saturday at the Burt Flickinger Center on the campus of Erie Community College.
 
Cortland scored 579 points to earn its third straight SUNYAC runner-up finish since 2019 (the 2021 championship was canceled). The Red Dragons have placed in the top three in the conference 15 times in the last 18 meets. Geneseo won its 14th straight league title with 1,046 points. Brockport (399) nipped New Paltz (394) for third place, with Oswego (311) in fifth. Rounding out the field were Oneonta (281), Fredonia (244.5), Buffalo St. (174) and Potsdam (154.5).
 
Taylor Williams (Slate Hill/Minisink Valley) and Ashley Zachgo (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) earned the top two spots in 3-meter diving. Williams, who was named the SUNYAC Women's Outstanding Diver of the Meet, won the 3-meter board with 485.15 points. She won the league 1-meter title on Thursday. Zachgo finished second with 439.00 points to match her placement from Thursday's 1-meter event.
 
Veronica Ribot-Canales was selected as the 2022 SUNYAC Women's Diving Coach of the Year. In addition to Williams and Zachgo in the top two, Nicole Bellettiere (Slate Hill/Minisink Valley) finished fourth on the 3-meter board with 417.05 points. Williams, Zachgo and Bellettiere have all qualified for the NCAA diving regionals Feb. 25-26 at Ithaca.
 
Cortland also claimed one of the league's top honors when Marissa Kordal (Eden) was recognized as the 2022 SUNYAC Women's Swimming and Diving Elite 20 Award winner. The award goes to the student-athlete at the site of each of the league's 20 championships with the highest cumulative grade point average. Kordal is a biology major with a 3.92 GPA entering the spring semester.
 
Williams and Zachgo were joined on Saturday's all-league podium by the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Kordal, Kailyn Anselment (Queensbury/Glens Falls), Emily Lantry (Massena/St. Lawrence) and Madi Monaghan (Chili/Gates-Chili) that finished in third place (3:36.91).
 
The top three finishers in each event earn All-SUNYAC honors. Winners are first team, runners-up are second team and third-place finishers are third team. Each athlete's top event finish at the meet is used to determine their official all-league placement.
 
Monaghan finished fourth in the 200-yard backstroke (2:10.65), followed by Lantry in fifth place (2:11.02), while Anselment finished fifth in the 1,650-yard freestyle (18:21.42). Three Red Dragons earned spots in the 200-yard butterfly "A" finals - Kordal finished sixth (2:17.74), Sarah Colefield (Oakdale/Connetquot) was seventh (2:21.10) and Caitlin Elsasser (Merrick/Sanford H. Calhoun) placed eighth (2:21.19).
 
Josie LaPolt (New Paltz) won the "B" final in the 200-yard backstroke (2:16.82) for a ninth-place overall finish. Four Red Dragons posted 10th-place efforts - Abbey Gittschau (Camillus/West Genesee) in the 1,650-yard freestyle (19:32.14), Evelyn Currier (Waterford/Shenendehowa) in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:37.67), Emma Heppner (Orchard Park) in 3-meter diving (286.45 points), and Faith Calabrese (Islip Terrace/East Islip) in the 200-yard backstroke (2:19.00). Calabrese was also 12th in the 200-yard butterfly (2:27.81).
 
Rounding out Cortland's scorers on Saturday were: Mackenzie Dickman (Montgomery/Valley Central) (13th, 2:42.43) and Nicole Murphy (Saratoga Springs) (14th, 2:43.83, 2:42.41 prelims) in the 200-yard breaststroke; Sophia Boccio (Garden City) in the 100-yard freestyle (14th, 57.70, 57.45 prelims); and Anna Stahurski (Oakdale/Connetquot) in the 200-yard backstroke (16th, 2:25.99). In addition, Kaila O'Hara (East Islip) qualified for the evening session in the 100-yard freestyle with a prelim time of 57.30 seconds but she was disqualified in the "B" finals of the event.
 
Full Results (All Days; Women Only)
 
SUNYAC Championship Web Page (includes links to live results, video and photos)
 
2022 SUNYAC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships

FINAL STANDINGS

1) Geneseo - 1,046
2) Cortland - 579
3) Brockport - 399
4) New Paltz - 394
5) Oswego - 311
6) Oneonta - 281
7) Fredonia - 244.5
8) Buffalo St. - 174
9) Potsdam - 154.5