BUFFALO, N.Y. – Hunter Bernhardt (Groton) broke the school record in the 500-yard freestyle to highlight Cortland's efforts during the first full day of the 2023 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.
 
Geneseo leads the team standings with 390 points, followed by Cortland with 243 and New Paltz with 151. Oswego (128), Oneonta (116), Brockport (100), Potsdam (90), Fredonia (56) and Buffalo State (3) round out the nine-team field. The competition continues Friday and Saturday at Erie Community College's Burt Flickinger Center.
 
Bernhardt finished second in the 500 freestyle in 4:35.41, breaking the previous school record of 4:38.55 set by Andrew Cremer in 2013.

Cortland also has finished second in all three relays thus far. On Wednesday, the Red Dragons were runner-up in the 800-yard freestyle relay with Ethan Domanico (New Windsor/Newburgh Free Academy), Bernhardt, Mason Rowlands (Campbell Hall/Washingtonville) and Jack-Henry Whalen (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) finishing in 6:59.87, while the quartet of Makiah Poli (Cortland/Home schooled), Mason Arnberg (Dix Hills/Half Hollow Hills East), Domanico and Sam Zani (Irondequoit) placed second in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:34.50. On Thursday, Rowlands, Whalen, Hunter Sugrue-Neuendorf (Valley Cottage/Nyack) and Zani finished second in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:25.03.
 
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.
 
Cortland earned seven other top-eight individual finishes on Thursday. Arnberg finished fourth in the 200-yard IM (1:56.28), Sean Zupko (Montgomery/Valley Central) was sixth in the 500 freestyle (4:48.20, 4:44.39 prelims), Poli was sixth in the 200 IM (1:57.16), Whalen placed eighth in the 50 freestyle (21.81, 21.56 prelims) and Rowlands was eighth in the 500 freestyle (4:53.73, 4:48.15 prelims). In 1-meter diving action, Lance Meeson (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) finished fourth with 434.20 points and Alex Hilldale (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) was fifth with 393.50 points (401.20 points prelim score).
 
Nick Dambra (Brockport) won the "B" final in the 200-yard IM in 1:58.89 to finish ninth overall. Six other Red Dragons scored points with top-16 finishes: Zani was 11th (21.80) and Sugrue-Neuendorf finished 12th (21.97) in the 50 freestyle; Dylan Monaco (Lynbrook) placed 13th (4:57.32), Lucas Gannon (Schenectady/Mohonasen) was 14th (4:59.78, 4:58.74 prelims) and Domanico finished 16th (5:06.98, 4:57.76 prelims) in the 500 freestyle; and Kellen Dickman (Montgomery/Valley Central) finished 13th in the 200 IM (2:03.36, 2:02.28 prelims).

Championship Web Page (includes links to video and live results)
 
2023 SUNYAC Men's Swimming and Diving Championships

Team Scores after Day 1 (first full day) (Feb. 16):
 
1) Geneseo – 390
2) Cortland – 243
3) New Paltz – 151
4) Oswego – 128
5) Oneonta – 116
6) Brockport – 100
7) Potsdam – 90
8) Fredonia – 56
9) Buffalo St. - 3