Swimmers & Divers Ready To Compete At Third Landmark Swimming & Diving Championships

MADISON, N.J. – The University of Scranton women’s team and the United States Merchant Marine Academy men’s team will look to continue the success of the first two seasons while six other women’s teams and five men’s teams will try and unseat them as champions when competition begins at the the three-day Landmark Conference Swimming & Diving Championships Friday Feb. 12. The three-day event will be held in O’Hara Hall on the campus of the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.

The competition will open with prelims starting at 11 a.m. on Friday, with finals beginning at 6 p.m. and then the schedule will repeat on Saturday. The meet will then conclude on Sunday with the prelims beginning at 11 a.m. and the finals starting at 5 p.m. Seven women’s teams and six men’s teams will be vying for Landmark Championships while champions will also be crowned in 15 individual events and four relays for both the men and women.

In the women’s meet, Scranton has claimed the first two Landmark titles and has a loaded squad back to defend its crown. The Royals put together an undefeated season in dual-meet competition, the program’s fourth perfect regular season, and led by returning All-Conference performers Lauren Wieland and Carolyn Gillespie Scranton is a strong favorite to earn its third title in as many seasons.

The most likely challenge to the Royals could come from last year’s runner-up Susquehanna University. Christie Savard leads a Crusaders team that earned eight dual-meet wins on the year and has established several new Landmark records. Four-time individual event champion and NCAA qualifier Lisa Brooks is back for The Catholic University of America, which has placed second and third at the first two Landmark meets and should again challenge for a top spot.

Goucher College has also been near the top of the standings each of the first two seasons, and with last year’s co-Swimmer of the Year Britt Hogstrom back in the fold, the Gophers should again be a factor. Drew University has been fifth each of the first two seasons but a roster of versatile performers such as junior Kati Eggert could see the team move into the upper half of the standings. USMMA’s roster has an influx of newcomers, led by Casey Moore who has posted several strong times during the year, and diver Kathryn Schmidt who is the favorite to earn wins in the diving events. For Juniata College the Eagles enter the meet with momentum after claiming their first dual-meet win in the regular-season finale, and though the team has a thin roster Lindsay Cooper will try and lead the team to its best-ever finish.

On the men’s side, USMMA appears poised to earn its third team title after another strong regular season. The Mariners picked up six wins and one tie on the year, including a perfect 3-0 record in Landmark dual meets and boast the fastest times in numerous events heading into the competition. Trevor Mays has three of those times, while junior diver Nicholas Halbach has been Diver of the Year each of the two previous seasons.

Scranton improved from fourth to second last season, and led by the strong sophomore duo of Marc Dezii and David Hovey should once again challenge for the top position in the conference. The pair are two of the top point producers for a very deep Royals team. Also coming into competition with a deep roster is Susquehanna which dropped only two dual meets on the season has several of the fastest times in the conference heading into the competition. At the top of that list is Colin Sullivan who owns the fastest times in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke events.

Catholic has earned third-place finishes each of the past two seasons at the Landmark meet and are led by Kevin Cravedi who is one of the team’s three returning All-Conference swimmers from a season ago. Goucher’s Georgi Shalamanov has seen improvement in virtually all his events after a strong freshman season, and could be a threat to finish near the top, or win several events for the Gophers. Drew enters the meet with a substantially bigger roster this season and with freshman Graham Berstler already providing some of the fastest swims in program history, the Rangers may be poised to improve on last season’s sixth-place finish.

The Landmark Swimming & Diving Championships will be the final event of the conference season for the Landmark competitors. Several teams and athletes will then move on to compete in other championships meets and will try to qualify competitors for the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships March 17-20 in Minneapolis, Minn. Last season the Landmark sent three student-athletes to the NCAA Championships, with one earning two National Titles in individual events.