Women's Swimming & Diving | 3/24/2017 8:00:00 AM

ROCHESTER, NY — The RIT women's swimming and diving team enjoyed a record-breaking season in 2016-17, finishing third in the Liberty League Championships and fourth overall at the New York State Collegiate Swimming Association (UNYSCSA) Championships. RIT recorded eight dual meet victories, the most in program history since 1983-84.
 
Sophomores Amy Adams (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy) and Sedera Zbranak (Austin, TX/Lake Travis) represented RIT at the 2017 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships in Shenendoah, Tex.
 
Adams broke a pair of individual school marks and was part of two record-setting relay teams at the 2017 UNYSCSA Championships in Ithaca from Feb. 15-18 which helped her qualify for the national championship meet. Adams was runner-up at the state meet in the 100-yard breaststroke, breaking her own school mark with a time of 1:03.66. Adams also broke her own school record in the 200-breast with a time of 2:25.04. She just missed All-American honors in the 100-back.
 
Zbranak broke three individual school marks and was part of four record-setting relay teams at the 2017 UNYSCSA Championships in Ithaca from Feb. 15-18. Zbranak, a two-time RIT Female Athlete of the Week (Jan. 23 and Feb. 20), became RIT's first swimmer to win an individual event at the state meet since 2010, while recording a pair of runner-up finishes. Zbranak was the state champion in 200-yard freestyle with a school-record time of 1:51.62. She was a runner-up in the 100-yard backstroke with another program record, of 56.97 second, in addition to runner-up in the 200-backstroke (2:03.35), which helped her qualify for the national championship. She competed at nationals in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard and 200-yard backstrokes.
 
Seniors Amanda Drake (Endicott, NY/Maine Endwell), Rachel Kobel (Bergen, NY/Byron-Bergen), Megan O'Connor (Spring City, PA/Owen J. Roberts), and Genevieve Senecal (Westfield, MA/Westfield) capped off their careers at RIT in 2016-17. O'Connor, Senecal, and juinior Brenna Woodling (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville East) provided leadership as team captains.
 
Senecal was RIT's top swimmer in the butterfly events, posting a top time on the team of 59.08 seconds in the 100-fly and 2:09.60 in the 200-fly, earning her fifth place in states. She also had a team second-best 2:12.64 in the 200-yard individual medley. She had 12 wins and six second place efforts in 2016-17.
 
Senecal was a part of three new school records in relays in 2016-17, all set at the UNYSCSA Championships. Senecal, Zbranak, Emily Lederman (Morgantown, WV/Morgantown), and Daylen Smith (Lockwood, NY/Waverly) set a new school record in the 400-freestyle relay with a time of 3:34.11. Senecal, Zbranak, Smith, and Adams also broke the school record in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:45.76. Adams, Senecal, Zbranak, and Woodling also set a new school record of 3:54.78 in the 400-yard medley relay.
 
Fellow seniors Kobel and O'Connor also finished with top-five times on the team as well. O'Connor had a third-best time of 2:33.93 in the 200-yard breaststroke, along with a personal best 1:09.22 in the 100-yard breaststroke. Kobel was fourth on the team in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:34.92), and fifth in the 200-yard individual medley (2:24.61).
 
In freestyle action, Smith was RIT's fastest time in the 50-yard event this season at 24.75 seconds, which came in the UNYSCSA Championships, earning her eighth place. Smith won seven races and finished as runner-up in seven other events.
 
Sophomore Olivia Phillips (Louisville, CO/Fairview) was RIT's fastest performer in the 500-yard freestyle (5:11.83) and is also a standout in the backstroke and butterfly. She had a team-best 24 top-three efforts in 2016-17, and added two seventh place finishes and one sixth place finish at the state meet.
 
Freshman Emily Lederman (Morgantown, WV/Morgantown) was a consistent performer for the Tigers in her rookie season, with nine victories. She was RIT's fastest swimmer in the 200-yard individual medley (2:12.21) and 400-yard individual medley (4:51.70). She placed as good as eighth and 11th at states. Sophomore Adeline Maykish (Caldwell, NJ/Caldwell) (Caldwell, NJ/Caldwell) has added 18 top-three finishes and was RIT's top swimmer in the 1,000-yard freestyle (11:01.48). Woodling, who was named the RIT Female Athlete of the Week on Nov. 7, finished with 18 top-three finishes and was one of RIT's most versatile swimmers, grabbing fifth place in two events at states.
 
The Tigers received depth in 2016-17 from juniors Maria Echavarria (Bogota, Colombia/Colegio Neuva Granda), Grace Morales (South Riding, VA/Freedom), and Katherine Ward (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna), along with sophomores Sarah Evans (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) and Katrina Mayer (Bristol, VT/Vergennes Union), to go with first-year swimmers Megan Hawkes (Franklinville, NJ/Gloucester County), Sydney Kraeger (Henrietta, NY/Rush-Henrietta), Eleanor O'Gorman (Yarmouth, ME/Yarmouth), Lauren Perttula (Idaho Falls, ID/Idaho Falls), and Sophia Wilson (Addison, NY/Addison).
 
O'Gorman finished the season with top-five times on the team in six events. She was fourth on the team in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle, and the 50-yard, 100-yard, and 200-yard backstroke, while owning a season fifth-best time in the 500-yard freestyle. She also added a 12th place finish at states in the 200-back. Hawkes backed that up with three times inside the top five on the squad, including the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly, along with the 200-yard individual medley.
 
Kraeger finished the season with the team's second-best time in both the 1,000-yard (11:29.43) and 1,650-yard (19:00.39) freestyle events. Mayer was second on the team in the 100-yard breaststroke, nabbing 10th place with a time of 1:08.90 at the state meet, while Ward was fourth in the 200-yard butterfly (2:33.66).
 
On the diving board, Drake and Alaiya Tuntemeke (Livonia, NY/Livonia) led the way, while Madeline Wolters (Hilton, NY/Hilton), Patsy Hayes (San Jose, CA/Abraham Lincoln), and freshman Megan Smith (Monroe, CT/Masuk) added contributions for the Tigers in 2016-17. Tuntemeke had 15 top-three finishes for RIT this season, while Drake had 13. Tuntemeke has RIT's best scores in the 3-meter six dive (219.60) and both 1-meter (423.45) and 3-meter (397.45) 11 dive events. She placed sixth in the 1-meter dive and eighth at the 3-meter dive at the state meet. Drake finished the season with RIT's top score in the 1-meter six dive (216.35), getting eighth in the 1-meter dive at states.
 
RIT excelled in the classroom once again during the 2016-17 season, with 10 student athletes — Adams, Echavarria, Evans, Hayes, Kobel, Morales, O' Connor, Senecal, Tuntemeke, and Zbranak — receiving Liberty League All-Academic Team honors.
 
Despite the loss of seniors Drake, Kobel, O'Connor, and Senecal, the Tigers will work towards a Liberty League and UNYSCSA Championship title in 2017-18, with a strong nucleus returning.