MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING EYEING NEAC CHAMPIONSHIP
Aurora, N.Y.– The Wells College men's and women's swimming teams rolled out of bed long before the sun rose this morning, piled into vans, and headed off to Cazenovia College for the first North Eastern Athletic Conference Swimming Championship in school history. Although many dreams may have been disturbed by an early wake up call, when you speak about the chance at a conference championship, the dream is real. Coming off one of their most successful seasons in recent memory, both teams are arguably the clear favorites to stand atop the conference at the end of the two day championship.
Both teams have combined for a total of six NEAC Student-Athlete of the Week awards, while the men's team has set six new school records, and twenty new top ten times, but even more impressive are the head-to-head match-ups between Wells and rival NEAC schools.
On the men's side, the only loss against conference opponents came against SUNY IT back on October 30th. Swimming without a full squad, the Express were narrowly defeated in the last event of the night as SUNY IT held on for a 52-43 victory over Wells. Look for junior transfer Jeffrey Dick, junior Michael Scharvella, sophomore Drew Teter, and freshmen newcomer Daniel Schilling, all of which hold a combined 12 school records, to lead a strong Express squad in the championship.
The only conference loss on the women's side came in the last week of the swimming season, a 50-37 loss to Cazenovia at Wells. The road to a championship maybe slightly tougher for the Express women but, having blown out all other NEAC opponents, the Express still stand as one of the favorites. Four seniors, Kelsey Stafford, Tiffany Raymond, Colleen Keegan, and Beverly Bauman will lead a seasoned group of swimmers including sophomore Idolyn Villiotti and freshmen newcomer Erika Bareiss, who have both shown flashes of excellence throughout the season.
With or without a conference championship, both teams can hold their heads high knowing they contributed to one of the most successful swimming seasons in recent years….but a championship wouldn't be so bad either.
