ALLEGHENY-EMPIRE MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS SET FOR WEDNESDAY
The AMCC men's swimming and diving teams will take to the starting blocks this week for the AMCC-Empire Swimming and Diving Championship Meet.
The AMCC men's swimming and diving teams will take to the starting blocks this week for the AMCC-Empire Swimming and Diving Championship Meet. The AMCC and Empire 8 conferences combined for their first joint championship in February 2020. The event will take place at the Webster Aquatic Center in Webster, NY, with the events kicking off Wednesday evening and concluding Saturday, February 17.
Alfred State College has a lot of upperclassmen leadership on their team from seniors Jack Friedah and Stuart Yates to junior Parker Brod. On the diving board, the Pioneers have Conor Compton who is a returning NCAA regional qualifier. This year's Alfred State team has been put to the test meet after meet and will be coming into this year's championship with a lot of confidence, as they look to defend their back-to-back conference titles they won in 2022 and 2023.
The Penn State Altoona men’s swimming team is coming off of a highly successful 2023-24 regular season that saw the Lions achieve eight dual meet wins, setting the program’s single-season dual meet wins record. Sophomore Caden Traggiai is among the top five fastest times in the AMCC in five different individual swims, including a conference-best time of 16:44.44 in the 1,650 Yard Freestyle. Meanwhile, sophomores Adam Marawan and Brian Nguyen and freshman Hunter McMullen are top-five in four different individual events, including McMullen holding the fastest time in the AMCC in the 50 Yard Butterfly with a time of 24.76. The Lions also hold the fastest time in the conference in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay with a time of 1:27.82.
The Penn State Behrend Lions are looking for their 15th title after a three-year hiatus of capturing the championship, as the Lions took second the last two seasons. Junior Tim Compton was a three-time individual champion and four-time runner up at last year’s championships. Compton broke four records and was the AMCC Champion in the 500 free, 400 IM and 200 butterfly. Will Perham claimed a pair of individual titles, winning the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Behrend holds the top times this season in the AMCC in 15 events.
The Pitt-Bradford’s men’s team enters the joint championship meet with a 3-6 record in duals on the season but are coming off a strong performance at Washington & Jefferson, where they were able to outswim the Presidents, but fell on diving points. Sophomore Conan Young will lead the Panthers into the championship, looking to repeat his record-setting performance in the mile last season. Fellow sophomores Duncan Young, and Sam Wright will also look to advance in a varying set of disciplines, while the Panthers will bring their biggest and most diverse squad to the meet since its inception.
The Wells College men's swimming team is led by junior Qulik Evans. Evans' main event is the 200M Butterfly, as he had his best times in that event this year at St. Lawrence with a time of 2:24.16. Evans ranks in the top five in Wells College men’s swimming record book in this event.