On Friday, the Binghamton men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams opened their seasons winless during their meets at Army. The women took on a tri-team meet facing both Vermont and the home team. In their season openers, both teams were unable to come away with a win. The men’s teams dropped their single match to Army, 193-98, and the women’s team dropped one to Army, 210-90, and a closer one to the Catamounts, 164-136.
“I think we were aggressive and got out and raced from the beginning,” said Binghamton head coach Jerry Cummiskey. “We’re really in a good place, the end result might not be what we wanted, but when we kind of take a look at the results and how he swam, we’re pretty happy with where we are.”
Despite the losses, there were some highlights for the Bearcats. Senior diver Amanda McGraw, who missed all of last season, came out hot in her first meet in almost 20 months. McGraw led the charge for BU as she was the only athlete to place first in their respective event. The senior scored 248.18 points in the women’s one-meter diving event, winning by a margin of nearly 13 whole points.
“It’s obviously great to have [McGraw] back,” Cummiskey said. “She’s a former conference champion that was out due to injury all of last season. Certainly love having her back on the boards and she leads a really strong diving group again. So it’s nice to see them pick up where they left off.”
In a shortened season last spring, the Bearcats took home both America East (AE) championships while each team came away with an undefeated 5-0 record. Cummiskey says a longer preseason and the ability to lift weights have created a little more wear and tear on Binghamton.
“Definitely an adjustment from last year,” Cummiskey said. “I think they felt good pretty much all of last season because it was shorter and we weren’t doing as much, we weren’t able to lift. They’re definitely a little more broken-down and beaten-up than they’d like to be or used to but that’s kind of where we have to be.”
In women’s three-meter diving, BU had divers place in both the silver and bronze positions. Sophomore Lindsey Weissman scored 237.45 points and McGraw was right behind her earning a score of 233.25. In one of the Bearcats’ better collective performances in the 200-yard breaststroke, sophomore Courtney Moane and freshman Lauren Kuzma placed second and third, respectively. They finished .60 seconds apart with times of 2:26.24 and 2:26.84.
“We fully expect to be able to compete and be there at the end,” Cummiskey said. “I think our women’s team is very deep and talented. Tough opponents to start off with, but I think we’ll be in a good place.”
In the men’s competition, no Bearcat was able to place first. Junior Justin Meyn came closest as he finished second in the men’s 100-yard butterfly by .24 seconds with a final time of 51.73 seconds. Sophomore Lewis Lin was also able to place in the silver position as he swam a time of 2:08.97 in the 200-yard breaststroke. In relay competition, the BU men’s side fared worse after teams placed fourth, fifth and sixth as the three Army squads edged them out in the 200-yard medley relay.
“I think we’ve got a good group,” Cummiskey said. “I think our men are a deeper, stronger group than we were last year overall.”
Next up, the men’s team has a home meet against Niagara University and the women’s team is scheduled at home against Niagara and Siena College on Saturday, Oct. 9. Both meets will take place at 1 p.m. in the Patricia A. Saunders Aquatic Center in Vestal, New York.