Potsdam, NY – Over the course of the final 19 events of the North Country Invitational, the Clarkson University Swim team captured six first-place finishes as the Golden Knights' men's team concluded the annual meet in first and the women took fourth at Maxcy Hall on the campus of Potsdam State.

The Golden Knights' men (517 points) narrowly beat out Monroe Community College (508) for top honors, but easily outdistanced the rest of the field, including Potsdam State (301), St. Michael's (275), Colby Sawyer (159) and Alfred State (141). On the women's side, the Knights (289) edged out Potsdam State (257), but trailed St. Michael's (468), Monroe Community College (465) and Colby Sawyer (320). Clarkson is now off until it competes in the Liberty League Championships the first weekend of December.

Clarkson's men started off the day with a win in the 200 medley relay thanks to Al Catano (Ronkonkoma, NY), Jon Ketcham (East Aurora, NY), Nick Short (Endwell, NY) and Chris Bay (Greene, NY), completing the circuit in 1:39.42. Catano later claimed a win in the 100 backstroke (53.02 seconds), but it was three other races that helped the Knights to the win. In the 400 individual medley, Tyler Nichols (Spencerport, NY) and Short finished one-two in the race, only .07 apart, but more than nine seconds ahead of the third-place swimmer. The 200 butterfly also saw Short and freshman Chris Bankaitis (Horseheads, NY) take the top two spots and in the 200 breaststroke Ketcham and freshman Garry Dorn (Hauppauge, NY) came in first and third, respectively, to boost the Clarkson point total. Earlier in the day, Sam Zwierzchowski (East Amherst, NY) also claimed third in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 18:46.00.

For the women, the Knights started off the day with a third-place showing in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:58.02 thanks to Tiffany Catano (Ronkonkoma, NY), Abigail Sullivan (Canandaigua, NY), Kayla Weckesser (Rhinebeck, NY) and Kelly Ludeke (Burnt Hills, NY). Sullivan later won her ninth straight individual race, taking top honors in the 200 breaststroke (2:31.18) for the third time this season. Freshman Joanne Bechaz (Clayton, NY) scored a 160.25 in the 1-meter dive, placing third among eight divers in the competition.