Kat Swimmers finish Region & NE District Championships with 11 Top-3 Finishes

The Erie Community College men's and women's swimming and diving teams headed to Rochester to compete in the Region III/ N.E. District Championships hosted by Monroe Community College, Feb. 10-12.

The Kats finished in the top-three 11 times over the three-day event with three first-place finishes, five second-place finishes and three third-place finishes as the women's team finished fourth with 214 points and the men finished fifth with 198 points in a combined field of 14.

Both teams had a pair of swimmers record multiple top-three finishes overall. For the women, Tabby Smith and Allie DeBiase led the way. Brad Zifra and Charlie May headed the men's team.

On Day 1, the Kats registered two first-place finishes and one second-place finish. First, in the sixth event, Zifra took second in the 200 IM with a 2:10.02 time. In the seventh event, Smith took first in the 50 freestyle with a 26.26 time.

The day was capped by Jessica Raymond's first-place finish in 1-meter diving with a 373.40 score that was good enough to set a new ECC record.

Day 2 was highlighted by four top-three finishes with both the men and women recording a pair each. Both Kat teams did well in the 200 medley relay with the men finishing second with a time of 1:46.89 and the women third at 2:11.70 in the 14th and 13th events, respectively.

The men's team was comprised of Andrew Achenbach, Mike Oldman, May and Zifra with Achenbach recording the best leg at 23.01. The women's team was comprised of Alexis Simak, Kristin Klein, DeBiase and Smith with the latter's leg time tops among the four at 30.30.

Before the second day ended, DeBiase finished second in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:14.08 time and May took third in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:00.28.

Day 3, like Day 2, saw the Kats again capture four top-three finishes with both the men and women getting a pair each.

In the 30th event, May took another third but this time in the 200 backstroke with a 2:09.68 time, while DeBiase captured second-place in the same event with a 2:41.47 time.

Prior to that Smith won the 100 freestyle in event 31 with a 58.44 time. Zifra was the last Kat to take a top-three spot by finishing second in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:24.98 time in event 34.

Host Monroe captured their 13th-consecutive women's title with 452 points, while the men's top team was Genesee Community College with479 points.

Next up is the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association's National Championship hosted by the Kats at the Burt Flickinger Athletic Center March 1-4.