Hartwick swimmers competing for conference, state titles

Hartwick College opened competition in the Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association Championships for men on Wednesday at Syracuse-Nottingham High.

The Hawks are led by freshman Kevin Milkovich, the top seed in the 500-yard freestyle, and junior Kurt Cedo, who won the 100 and 200 backstrokes at last season’s Empire 8 Conference meet. Additionally, junior diver Mark Phillips has already provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III meet.

Seniors Dan Holmberg and Ryan Olsen will compete in the 50 and 100 freestyles at the meet, which doubles as the Empire 8 Conference Championships and runs through Saturday.

Alfred University is the defending men’s champion and finished 8-1 in dual meets this season. Hartwick, which finished se[an error occurred while processing this directive]cond at the conference meet last season, is the only team to beat Alfred this winter.

Women’s Swimming

Three Hawks honored
Ashley Brinkman earned two All-Empire 8 Conference honors for the Hartwick women’s swimming team this winter.

Brinkman made the First Team in the 3- and 1-meter diving events after winning both at last week’s Empire 8 Conference Championships at Syracuse-Nottingham High. The conference meet ran concurrently with the New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association meet.

Casey Whittaker (200 butterfly) and Shaina Shorell (3-meter diving) received Second Team accolades.

Nazareth’s Emily Lesher was named Athlete of the Meet. Ithaca’s Lauren Botterbusch received Rookie of the Meet honors and her coach, Paula Miller, was named Coach of the Year.

Indoor Track

E8 Championships set
Hartwick’s men and women will compete in the Empire 8 Championships on Friday and Saturday at RIT.

Hartwick sophomore Sonya Williams earned the top Division III women’s finish in the high jump this past weekend at the Marc Denault Invitational at Cornell. Ithaca is seeking its third straight conference title.

The Hawks men look to improve on their fifth-place finish in 2005. RIT won the men’s title last season.

Preseason Polls

’Wick fourth in three sports
Hartwick earned the No. 4 spots in three preseason Empire 8 Conference polls.

The Hawks men’s lacrosse team, which received one first-place vote, is ranked fourth out of eight programs. First-Team All-Conference midfielder Mike Debrossy received a third-team preseason All-American selection for the Hawks, who advanced to the Empire 8 title game last season.

Hartwick’s season has been suspended until further notice, pending an investigation into an alleged hazing incident that was reported to local police earlier this week.

Three-time defending conference champion Nazareth was selected to finish first this spring. Nazareth’s women also were picked to successfully defend their conference title. Hartwick’s women are ranked fourth out of seven teams.

Led by junior Tyler Saladin, Hartwick is ranked fourth out of five baseball teams in the E8. Saladin batted a team-high .379 and earned four pitching victories for the Hawks last spring.

Five-time defending conference champion Ithaca ranked first.