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Stevens Tech Men, Ithaca Women Top Empire 8 Conference Champs

The Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks captured their fifth straight Empire 8 Conference Men's Swimming & Diving title on Saturday. 

Junior Connor Harrigan of Stevens claimed top billing in the 1,650 Freestyle for the second straight year in a B-cut time of 16:02.79, nearly five seconds in front of second-place finisher Hartwick senior Brendan Quinn (16:07.39, B-cut). Harrigan's win marks the eighth time in the last ten years a Stevens' swimmer has won the event. 

Senior Adam Zelehowsky of Ithaca was the top finisher in the 100 freestyle in a time of 45.93, less than one second in front of teammate Aaron Levin (46.70).

Stevens' Ethan Gehenio was crowned the champion in the 200 Backstroke. He clocked a time of 1:50.64 to outtouch Nazareth's Alex Lapoint (1:50.79).

An Ithaca swimmer won the 200 Breaststroke title for the second time in three years as freshman Andrew Mikhailichenko touched in 2:05.31. He beat out Stevens' Tyler Zanki (2:05.73).

Hartwick freshman Kyle Washington won the Empire 8 title in 3-meter diving earning a score of 343.50. 

Ithaca was the top 400 Freestyle Relay for the first time in E8 history. The quartet of Nate Bartalo, Kellen Scanlan, Levin and Adam Zelehowsky combined for a winning time of 3:05.65 to snap a four year win streak by Stevens. The Ducks missed out on first place by .17 hundreths of a second (3:05.82).

The Empire 8 Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Championship came to an end on Saturday at the Athletics & Events Center Aquatics Pavilion in Ithaca, NY with Ithaca College winning team title. 

Nazareth junior Cameron Hess won the title in the 1,650 Freestyle for the fourth straight year. Her time of 17:31.51 bested Stevens' Sam Geyer by 12 seconds (17:43.73).

Ithaca senior Lake Duffy completed the sweep of the freestyle sprints with her second individual title of the week in the 100-yard freestyle race. Duffy, who already captured the 50-yard freestyle title on the opening night of the meet, claimed her second E8 title with a time of 51.79, finishing under the national B-Cut qualifying time.

For the fourth straight year, junior Grace Ayer took the top spot in the 200 Backstroke event. Ayer's time was a B-cut mark of 2:04.32, three seconds ahead of runner-up Stevens' Courtney Jones (2:07.67).  

Stevens junior Katie Prescott defended her title from a year ago in the 200 Breaststroke with a B-cut time of 2:21.67. Ithaca senior Sam Reilly was second (2:24.38). 

Wrapping up the championships was the 400 Freestyle Relay. Ithaca snapped an eight year win streak by Stevens to take the crown for the first time since 2008. Erin Hackett, Jackie Pecze, Ayer and Duffy combined for a B-cut time of 3:29.49. The Ducks were second (3:30.80).  

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