By: Joseph Keyser
GENESEO, NY - In their hardest dual meet of the season, SUNY Brockport’s men’s swimming and diving team lost 240-54 to 22nd nationally ranked Geneseo.
Though the score showed a one-sided meet, the Golden Eagles went down fighting, giving everything that they had.
“We have a lot to learn still,” Brockport head coach Zack Wahl said. "But I was encouraged by the attitude that we brought. They know that this is a team that’s nationally ranked and they’re as good as anybody in Division III.”
The positive energy and encouragement are things that the team has worked on this season.
“We took a very different approach this fall,” Wahl said. “We spent a lot more time doing team bonding stuff. We had Saturdays where we would do little team competitions where they were split up into eight different groups with all the classes on a team to get to know each other. And we’ve been making sure to harp on positive energy in the pool and in practices, especially in the tough sessions and the weight room.”
The new energy and new recruiting class have veteran swimmers hopeful for the future.
“This year I can feel the energy shift from last year,” Brockport sophomore Josh Lauzonis said. “I can feel the momentum when I’m swimming. I feel everyone cheering. It’s a great thing to have, especially this year with a much bigger team and much better program.”
“It’s a great feeling, and also kind of a bad feeling that you have to fight for your spot every meet,” Brockport junior Garrett Nanna said. “It puts a kind of pressure on you, where if you’re not the guy that day, then someone else will be. But it’s also a great feeling knowing that you have a whole team behind you.”
Zander Benz placed fourth in the 50-yard freestyle with a 24.04.
Matt Cole swam the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.63, earning fourth.
Sean Feeney earned fourth in the 100-yard individual medley, finishing in 1:02.27.
Jace Fredericksen placed third in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:12.19 and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:58.14.
Lauzonis placed fourth in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, finishing in 1:08.30 and 2:29.51.
Michael Laviani finished the 200-yard backstroke in 2:11.94, earning fourth place.
Nanna tied for fourth place in the 100-yard freestyle with his teammate Erik Parkes, both finishing in 52.71.
Luca Olivieri placed fourth in the 400-yard individual medley in 4:32.17 and second in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:04.91.
In addition to his fourth-place tie with Nanna in the 100-yard freestyle, Parkes placed second in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:05.67 and third in the 100 butterfly with a 55.26.
Ren Watson finished third in both diving events, scoring 246.15 on the 1-meter board and 228.70 on the 3-meter board.
Full meet results are available on Meet Mobile.
The Golden Eagles’ next meet is a tri-meet against Oneonta and Hartwick College on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. at Hartwick.
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