Swimming and diving sweeps Utica

Skidmore's men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams highlighted the winter sports week, sweeping Utica. Men’s basketball topped Castleton in its first game of the week before dropping a nail-biter against No. 23 Babson, and ice hockey went on the road to take on two nationally ranked opponents.

Men’s and women’s swimming and diving combined to win 26 events en route to a sweep of Utica College. Catherine King ’15 had a hand in four first-place finishes, touching first in the 50- and 100-free, combining with Erin Donovan ’17, Caroline Tuttle ’17 and Yookee Roh ’16 for first in the 200-medley relay, and teaming with Donovan, Kate Lambos ’15 and Monica Abdul-Chani ’17 for first in the 200-free relay. Lambos, Tuttle and Roh all added two individual first-place finishes.

Mario Hyman ’16 led the men’s team, winning the 100-free and the 100-fly and playing a part in the first-place finishing team in the 200 medley relay. Gabriel Salitan-Alvarez ’17 and Nick Sauerbrunn ’15 gave the team a boost, notching two wins each. Salitan-Alvarez placed first in the 1000 free and the 200 fly, while Sauerbrunn was first in the 200 and the 500 free. Reigning Liberty League Diver of the Week Jacob Nathan swept the diving events, scoring 245.70 in the 1-meter event and 228.40 in the 3-meter. Next up, the teams compete at the Liberty League Championships Dec. 4-5 in Rochester, N.Y.

Men’s basketball knocked off Castelton, 73-65 before falling against Babson. Connor Merrill ’15 led all scorers in the Castleton game, notching 19 points to go along with seven rebounds and four blocks. Aldin Medunjanin ’16 added a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. The team threw all it had at No. 23 Babson in a heartbreaking 75-74 overtime defeat. The Beavers managed a buzzer beater, tying the game 66-66 to force the overtime. The lead changed hands four times in the overtime period, but Babson held on for the one-point win. Merrill posted his first double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds and Medunjanin produced 17 points and four rebounds. Erik Sanders ’16 had 16 points and Perun Kovacevic ’15 contributed 10 points and nine boards. The team hosts Plattsburgh at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24.

Ice hockey faced two undefeated conference opponents, suffering setbacks against No. 7 Babson and No. 11 UMass Boston. Mickey Foley ’18 tallied his third goal of the season against Babson and Anthony Bird ’17 extended his point streak to six games with an assist. Connor Pelkey ’17 netted a power-play goal in Saturday’s loss at UMass Boston and Ben Freiberg ’16 made 35 saves, including 17 in the second period. The team hosts the Skidmore Invitational tournament Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 29 and 30, taking on Morrisville in the opening game at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29. ~ By Dan St.-Jacques