BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Cortland women's swimming and diving team finished in second place out of nine schools at the 2023 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championships. The meet was held Feb. 15-18 at Erie Community College's Burt Flickinger Center.
 
Geneseo won its 15th straight league title with 1,017 points. Cortland scored 573 points to finish second for the fourth straight championship. The Red Dragons have placed in the top three in the conference 16 times in the last 19 conference meets. Brockport was third with 457 points, followed by New Paltz (410), Oneonta (249), Fredonia (237), Buffalo State (224), Oswego (206) and Potsdam (189).
 
Following the meet, Ashley Zachgo (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) was named the SUNYAC Outstanding Diver of the Meet and Veronica Ribot-Canales repeated as SUNYAC Women's Diving Coach of the Year. Zachgo won the conference 3-meter diving title on Wednesday and the 1-meter crown on Friday.
 
The Red Dragons earned all-league honors in three events during Saturday's final day of competition. Emily Lantry (Massena/St. Lawrence) placed third in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:10.00 and Leah Bernhardt (Groton) finished third in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 17:45.77. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Madi Monaghan (Chili/Gates Chili), Lantry, Kaila O'Hara (East Islip) and Bernhardt finished third in 3:37.88.
 
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.
 
Five other Red Dragons earned top-eight finishes during Saturday's "A" finals. Julia Bryce (Rochester/School of the Arts) was sixth (2:15.77), Areiannah Martinez-Reyes (Queens/Benjamin Cardozo) placed seventh (2:21.08, 2:18.30 prelims) and Caitlin Elsasser (Merrick/Sanford H. Calhoun) was eighth (2:22.11, 2:18.38 prelims) in the 200-yard butterfly. Sophie Amering (Rochester/Hilton) was seventh in the 1,650 freestyle (18:55.30) and Mackenzie Dickman (Montgomery/Valley Central) finished seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:35.26).
 
Monaghan won the "B" final in the 200 backstroke in 2:12.29 and Nicole Murphy (Saratoga Springs) was the "B" final winner in the 200 breaststroke (2:37.09) to earn ninth-place finishes. Also scoring on the final day with top-16 showing were: O'Hara in 10th place (55.70, 56.82 prelims), Alayna Miller (Hilton) in 11th place (55.81) and Sophia Boccio (Garden City) in 16th place (57.98) in the 100-yard freestyle; Emma Bogdanowicz-Wilson (Schenectady) in 13th place (2:41.70, 2:40.61 prelims) and Evelyn Currier (Waterford/Shenendehowa) in 14th place (2:41.73, 2:40.35 prelims) in the 200 breaststroke; and Anna Stahurski (Oakdale/Connetquot) in 16th place in the 200 backstroke (2:26.23, 2:25.15 prelims).

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

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

1) Geneseo - 1,017
2) Cortland - 573
3) Brockport - 457
4) New Paltz - 410
5) Oneonta - 249
6) Fredonia - 237
7) Buffalo St. - 224
8) Oswego - 206
9) Potsdam - 189