The Binghamton swimming & diving teams head into the 2019-20 campaign under the leadership of first-year head coach
Jerry Cummiskey. The Bearcats have attained a good amount of success in the recent past and with a new leader of the program, they are looking to build upon those accomplishments when they begin their season on Oct. 19.
Cummiskey arrives from Bryant, where he served on the Bulldogs' staff the previous six years. Most recently, he was the associate head coach and helped the program rise to the top of the Northeast Conference (NEC). His first few months with the swim program at Binghamton have been encouraging in several ways.
"With the personalities of both teams and how welcoming they've been to myself, they have made the transition very easy," he said. "The teams have embraced the new things that we are doing and made it really easy to transition to how we are training and everything we are trying to do to get better everyday."
Cummiskey and the Bearcats started training in August when the teams reported back to campus. After going over the basics and getting to know each other, the Bearcats are now gearing specifically for the regular season.
"We are about six weeks into our training and have our legs under us now," Cummiskey said. "The first few weeks into the pool were a little more general overall and now we are able to focus on what we are doing event-specific and get up and go fast a little more."
MEN'S TEAM OUTLOOK
Last year, Binghamton was the runner up at the America East Championships for the second year in a row. The Bearcats return four all-conference performers from that group as well as most of their finalists from the America East meet. In addition, seven freshmen join the squad and figure to make an immediate impact.
"The men's team is a very strong group," Cummiskey said. "We have some talented guys and we are deep all the way through the lineup. We have 22 guys on the roster who can help us in both dual meets and championships."
A trio of freshmen –
Ryan Maierle,
Zach Ciriaco and
Matthew Palguta – will anchor the distance group this year. The top returner is senior
Dylan Van Manen, who was fifth in the 200 free at the America East meet last year.
Freshman
Justin Meyn and sophomore
Benjamin Beldner will be the main two sprinters.
In the backstroke events, senior
Tyler Meyers, junior
Shane Morris and sophomore
Brian Harding were all finalists at the America East Championships last season. Meyers was sixth in the 100 back, Morris was seventh in the 100 back while Harding was eighth in the 200 back.
In the breaststroke events,
Ryan Board was third in the 100 breast at the America East meet last year. He was also fifth in the 200 breast. Freshman
Jackson Homan is the top newcomer.
Meyn, Hohman and senior
Ross Bernstein will lead the Bearcats in the butterfly events this year. Bernstein was fourth in the 200 fly at the conference meet last year.
Binghamton will be strong in the IM events again this year. Bernstein was the runner up in the 400 IM at the America East Meet last year while Meyers was third in the 200 IM.
In the diving events, junior
David Walters was the runner-up in both the one- and three-meter events at the conference meet last year. Sophomore
Chris Egan was fourth and sixth respectively in the same two events. Freshman
Ryan Cohn and junior
Erik Temple are also capable of finishing in the top eight this year.
WOMEN'S TEAM OUTLOOK
The women's team won seven out of eight dual meets last year before settling for fifth place at the America East Championships. Four all-conference honorees return from that squad as well as three other conference finalists. Six freshmen join the team this year.
"We have a big women's team with 26 swimmers," Cummiskey said. "I definitely see -- with the group that we have -- that they are capable of moving up in the conference this year. They could challenge for some events and make some noise in a way that they haven't been able to do in a while."
Junior
Kaitlyn Smolar returns to anchor the distance events. She was third in both the 1,650 and 500 free at the America East meet last year and was also fourth in the 200 free. Junior
Kaitlyn McCarthy was sixth in the 1,650 free. A pair of seniors –
Noelle Kolakowski and
Hailee Stangeby – also return this year.
Seniors
Olivia Santos and
Kaitlyn Lange as well as sophomore
Belen Marriaga are the top returning sprinters. Joining them this season are freshmen
Manuela Matkovic and
Audrey Pesek.
In the backstroke events, junior
Erica Bachiller was third in the 100 back at the conference meet last year. Pesek and senior
Kristina Keefe should also excel in those events.
Senior
Sydney Atendido and sophomore
Kelli O'Shea are top returning breaststrokers. Atendido placed fifth in the 100 breast at the America East meet last year while O'Shea was seventh in the 200 breast. Senior
Rebecca Nelson and freshman
Alyssa Martin complete the group. Nelson and O'Shea will also lead the IM group.
The divers will once against be very strong on the women's side. Sophomore
Amanda McGraw was named the Most Outstanding Diver at last year's America East meet. Junior
Sophia Howard and senior
Jaime Campbell have both earned all-conference honors during their career. Freshman
Chloe Peterson is the top newcomer.
SCHEDULE
Binghamton begins its regular-season schedule with a Oct. 19 home meet against Niagara and Siena. The Bearcats will be at home for two other meets this season.
The America East Championships return to WPI this year. The four-day meet will run Feb. 13-16. Four weeks later is the NIC meet in Cleveland March 12-14.
"We are looking for both teams to have swimmers at the NIC meet," Cummiskey said. "It's a great national stage. Our main focus this year is still on the conference meet. But for those swimmers who go on, it's a chance to learn about recovering, training and continuing to swim fast."