Schenectady, NY - With a pair of top five finishes in the relay events, the Clarkson University Men's Swimming team pushed to a sixth-place showing after the opening session of the Liberty League Championships on Friday afternoon held at Union College.

The Golden Knights' men sit in sixth place among nine teams with 175 points after 12 events, while the women are ninth among 10 teams with 74 points. The final two sessions are tomorrow, with the opener beginning at 9:00 am.

The Knights' women opened up the day in ninth place in the 200 freestyle relay thanks to Sarah Halstead (Milford, NH), Deonna Coleman (Derby, NY), Abby Luber (Camillus, NY) and Kelly Ludeke (Burnt Hills, NY) finishing the event in 1:50.26. The men followed up with a fifth-place showing in the same event as Sam Zagrobelny (East Aurora, NY), Kyle Hancock (Essex, VT), Chris Bay (Greene, NY), and Al Catano (Ronkonkoma, NY) finished with a time of 1:30.09.

The 500 freestyle had no participants for the women, but sophomore Sam Zwierzchowski (East Amherst, NY) came just one spot out of the points in 25th with a time of 5:12.80. In the 200 individual medley, Halstead placed 46th and Katrina Smith (Ballston Spa, NY) came in 47th to open the individual events for the women. Catano began his individual efforts with a fourth-place finish in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:00.25, and three others also earned points in that event. Sophomore Nick Short (Endwell, NY) came in 17th in 2:07.15, junior Tyler Nichols (Spencerport, NY) placed 20th in 2:09.77 and Jon Ketcham (East Aurora, NY) took 21st in 2:10.14.

Several swimmers participated in the 50 freestyle, but Kelly Ludeke had the best spot for among the Golden Knights, taking 35th in 26.86 seconds. Hancock led the men with a 12th-place showing in 22.52 seconds and Zagrobelny earned a pair of points by coming in 23rd in 23.08 seconds. Chris Bay also took 30th in 23.39 seconds.

The 400 medley relay ended the day for the Knights, as Halstead, Ludeke, Jacklyn Yeaton (Merrimack, NH), and Luber placed 10th in 4:41.76. The men moved up a spot from their previous relay finish, as Catano, Hancock, Short, and Zagrobelny closed out the event in 3:40.27.