Geneseo’s swim and dive members book trip to NCAA Championship
SUNY Geneseo’s men’s and women’s swim and dive teams have each been powerhouses within their respective State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) divisions over the past decade. This year was no different, with both teams winning the SUNY title on Saturday, Feb. 18. This was the women’s fifteenth-straight season doing so, while the men’s team has come out victorious in the previous nine.
Also worth noting were both teams’ successes out of the pool, as they were recently awarded the titles of Scholar All-American teams by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). According to the CSCAA webpage, SUNY Geneseo’s women’s swim and dive team was able to achieve a cumulative fall GPA of 3.45 among its 28 members. The men’s team and its 23 members were also awarded, as they earned an average 3.20 GPA in the fall semester.
The next step for the two squads was to send individuals to the NCAA Diving Regionals to see them compete for a chance to participate in the 2023 NCAA Championships. On the first day of competitions, which were held Friday, Feb. 24 at Ithaca College, Geneseo sent senior Jennifer Van Horne to take part in the women’s three-meter dive. Van Horne came in 17th, scoring 374.05 total points in the first event of the meet. The following day, Van Horne competed in the women’s one-meter dive and finished in 23rd place. Van Horne secured a score of 338.80 in the final event of the season.
On the men’s side, the Knights sent three members to take part in the one-meter dive on Friday. Junior Trent Makowiec, who has earned first place in all of his one-meter performances this season, came out on top. Makowiec put together a powerful performance, scoring 550.85 points, 35.30 more than second place. The win earned Makowiec the opportunity to compete in this year’s NCAA Championship after his strong season. Sophomore Jacob Calus also fought to a fourth-place finish with a score of 488.90 in the event, keeping his hopes of a championship berth alive. Freshman Greg Meder rounded out the Knight’s participants, finishing in eighth place scoring a total of 467.70.
The final men’s event of the NCAA Regionals was the three-meter dive on Saturday. Makowiec finished fourth in the event, coming away with 507.95 points and fourth place. Meder finished next, placing eighth at 482.85 in a solid conclusion to the season. Not far behind was Calus who, by coming in tenth place with a score of 458.25, secured a bid to the NCAA Championship, along with Makowiec.
The event marked the end of multiple superb seasons put together by both the men’s and women’s swim and dive teams. While their individual journeys may have come to an end earlier than they preferred, they were still able to help lead their teams to continued SUNYAC success with no end in sight. Makowiec and Calus are slated to compete next in Greensboro, North Carolina on Mar. 15-18 to bring an NCAA Championship to Geneseo.