Troy, NY - Freshman Abigail Sullivan and junior Sam Zagrobelny hightlighted the Clarkson University Swimming team's performance at the Kumpf Invitational on Saturday, as both finished in the top three in their respective individual events to lead the Golden Knights in the annual event.

The Golden Knights' men finished fourth of six teams with 157 points, trailing Ithaca (411), Rensselaer (402), Cortland State (263), but leading Skidmore (85) and Cobleskill (39), while the women took fifth out of seven teams with 92 points, ahead of Skidmore (77) and Cobleskill (43), but behind Ithaca (493), Rensselaer (299.5), William Smith (201.5) and Cortland State (185). Clarkson will be back in dual meet action next Friday when the team swims at Potsdam State.

The meet started off with the 400 medley relay, with the women placing sixth overall thanks to the team of Tiffany Catano, Abigail Sullivan, Kayla Weckesser, and Kelly Ludeke, finishing in 4:27.35, while the men took fifth in 3:50.69, led by Tyler Nichols, Garry Dorn, Nick Short, and Chris Bay. The top 12 spots in each event at the meet recorded points and Kelly Mulvehill started the Knights off in the 1000 freestyle with an 11th-place showing in 12:08.51, while Sam Zwierzchowski came in seventh in 10:47.68 on the men's side. In the 200 freestyle, Kelly Ludeke reorded the first of two top-10 finishes for the day by coming in 10th in 2:11.79, nearly a second ahead of the 11th-place finisher, teammate Sarah Halstead (2:12.77). For the men in the 200 free, Alex Trass (1:57.51) and Garry Dorn (1:59.51) rounded out the scoring in 11th and 12th place, respectively.

The best finish of the day for the Knights' men came when Sam Zagrobelny took third in the 50 freestyle in 22.60 seconds, and teammate Chris Bay also claimed some points by coming in eighth with a time of 23.34. The highlight of the day overall came in the next event as Sullivan placed second overall in the 200 individual medley in 2:18.13, just a few seconds ahead of teammate Tiffay Catano, who came in fifth in 2:22.82. On the men's side, three Clarkson swimmers finished in the top nine, led by Tyler Nichols (2;07.42) in fifth place. Chris Bankaitis (2:07.55) and Nick Short (2:08.82) came in sixth and ninth, respectively.

Following an eighth-place finish by Joanne Bechaz in the 1-meter dive (157.95), Bankaitis and Short finished back-to-back in seventh and eighth place in the 200 butterfly, both with times below 2:09. Zagrobelny and Bay again placed inside the top 10 in the 100 freestyle (51.18, 6th place; 51.36, 10th place) before the Knights' women would score again as Molly Kelso came in eighth in the 200 backstroke (2:20.07), three spots ahead of Catano (2:22.50). Tyler Nichols earned a fifth-place finish in the 200 backstroke in 2:07.02 and Evan Pendleton came in 11th (2:16.64) in the same event.

Bechaz took eighth once again in the 3-meter dive with a score of 148.00 before Clarkson's distance swimmers returned to the pool, with Zwierzchowski coming in eighth in the 500 freestyle in 5:12.45 and Trass taking 11th in 5:21.71. The 200 breaststroke finished off the scoring for Clarkson's individuals, as Sullivan placed third in 2:33.19 and Mulvehill recorded a 12th-place finish in 2:50.39. Three swimmers picked up points for the men in the 200 breaststroke, as Aaron Parysek came in sixth (2:23.91), Garry Dorn finished seventh (2:23.93) and Connor Maloney (2:31.37) hit the pad for 11th.

Finally, the men's 400 freestyle team of Bankaitis, Nate Menapace, Zagrobelny, and Zwierzchoski took seventh in 3:29.88.