BUFFALO, N.Y. – Leah Bernhardt (Groton) won the 500-yard freestyle and Megan McLaughlin (Avon) was the 3-meter diving champion during the opening days of competition at the 2025 State University of New York Athletic Conference-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (SUNYAC-AMCC) Women's Swimming and Diving Championship.
 
The championship, held at the Burt Flickinger Center on the campus of Erie Community College, is the first-ever combined SUNYAC and AMCC Championship. Ten teams are competing - six from the SUNYAC (Cortland, Fredonia, Oneonta, Oswego, New Paltz and Potsdam) and four from the AMCC (Alfred State, Pitt Bradford, Penn St. Altoona and Penn St. Behrend). Competition will continue on Friday and Saturday.
 
Cortland currently leads the team scoring with 346 points, followed by Penn St. Behrend (238), Alfred State (214), Oswego (202) and Oneonta (130) in the top five.
 
Bernhardt won the 500 freestyle in 5:09.32 on Thursday. On Wednesday, McLaughlin won 3-meter diving with a score of 398.35 points, followed by Samantha Matthes (Saint James/Smithtown East) in second (369.25) and Alyssa Haberlack (Long Beach) in third (368.05).
 
Also on Wednesday, the 800-yard freestyle relay team of Kaila O'Hara (East Islip), Morgan Hannon (Hyde Park/Franklin D. Roosevelt), Ryann Redmond (Floral Park/Floral Park Memorial) and Bernhardt finished second in 7:59.16 and the 200-yard medley relay of Emily Lantry (Helena/St. Lawrence), Ella Garrow (Peru), Julia Bryce (Rochester/School of the Arts) and Alayna Miller (Hilton) finished third in 1:50.62.
 
On Thursday, Bryce finished second in the 200-yard individual medley (2:13.78), followed by Tristinye Martinez-Reyes (Queens/Benjamin Cardozo) in third (2:14.20) and Garrow in fourth (2:15.17). In the 50-yard freestyle, Miller finished fifth (25.18, 25.17 prelims) and Rhianna Lynch (New Hartford) was eighth (26.85, 25.42 prelims), and in the 500-yard freestyle Hannon was sixth (5:22.37) and Redmond finished seventh (5:24.88, 5:24.86 prelims).
 
The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Miller, Lynch, Erin Galligan (Rochester/Our Lady of Mercy) and Areiannah Martinez-Reyes (Queens/Benjamin Cardozo) finished third on Thursday in 1:40.21.
 
Two Red Dragons won "B" finals to finish ninth in their events - Sophie Amering (Hilton) in the 500 freestyle (5:28.21) and Peyton Glor (Tonawanda/Mount Saint Mary Academy) in the 200 IM (2:17.72). Other individual scorers for the Red Dragons included: Lantry in the 200 IM (10th place, 2:18.27); Cassidy Torres (Brooklyn/High School for Health Professionals & Human Services) in the 50 freestyle (11th place, 25.37); O'Hara in the 500 freestyle (11th place, 5:28.80); and Galligan in the 50 freestyle (13th place, 25.49).
 
Unlike past years in the SUNYAC Championships, teams are allowed this year to enter "B" relay teams that can score points, but not finish ahead of any "A" relays. Cortland's scoring "B" relays included:
 
800-yard freestyle relay - T. Martinez-Reyes, Amering, Bryce, Glor - 11th, 8:10.54 (5th-best time overall)
200-yard medley relay - T. Martinez-Reyes, Torres, A. Martinez-Reyes, Lynch - 11th, 1:51.15 (4th-best time overall)
200-yard freestyle relay - Torres, O'Hara, T. Martinez-Reyes, Lantry - 11th, 1:41.43 (5th-best time overall)
 
Championship Web Page (includes links to results and video)

Team Scores after Day 1 (first full day) (Feb. 20):
 
1) Cortland - 346
2) Penn St. Behrend - 238
3) Alfred State - 214
4) Oswego - 202
5) Oneonta - 130
6) Penn St. Altoona - 97
7) New Paltz - 89
8) Potsdam - 86
9) Pitt Bradford - 63
10) Fredonia - 48