The men's swim team, which has finished third in the New York State Meet each of the last two years, are among the five teams expected to battle for the title in this week's meet at Nottingham High School in Syracuse. The Dutchmen won four consecutive state championships from 1995 through 1998.
Union, Ithaca, Hartwick, Rensselaer and Alfred are the teams expected to replace Hamilton, which won last season's state title but will forgo this year's event in order to participate in the New England Small College Athletic Conference championships.
“There is no clear cut favorite among the top five schools,”
said head coach Judy Wolfe. “Each team has its strong points and each team has its depth in different areas. This will be a very interesting weekend. Hopefully we can rise to the challenge.”
Wolfe is counting on six swimmers to carry the bulk of the load for the Dutchmen this weekend. Sophomore Ridgley Harrison (Hackettstown, NJ/Morristown), freshman Adam Retersdorf (Mayfield, NY
Gloversville), senior Nathaniel Martin (Kensington, CT/Avon), junior Kyle Schack (Huntington Woods, MI/Kingswood), sophomore Steve Eberlein (Troy, MI/Brother Rice) and sophomore John Vandervoort (Centerville, MA/Barnstable) provide the nucleus for the Dutchmen. Besides their individual events, the above mentioned swimmers will make up the relay teams, which earns 64 points for a first place finish. The Dutchmen are expecting to do particularly well in the 400 and 800 freestyle relay events.
Wolfe is also counting on some key diving points from sophomore Aaron D'Addario(Manlius, NY/Manlius Fayetteville), freshman Adam Bekiaris (Central Valley, NY/Monroe) and junior Erik Seholm (Hunstville, TX/St. Mary's).
swims the butterfly
Trials begin each day at 10:30 a.m. with the finals starting at 6:30 each evening. An all-session pass is $10.00 with a $1.00 charge for single-session pass for the trials and a $2.00 charge for a single-session pass for the finals. Tickets can be purchased at the door.