ROCHESTER, NY – The Alfred University women's swimming & diving team began its 2022-23 season with a road dual-meet at Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon.
The Saxons dropped a 214-64 decision to the New York and national powerhouse. "It is pretty tough to open up a season against what is one of the better teams in the area right now," Head Coach,
Brian Striker '00 said. "We had no misconceptions about what RIT would bring to the table today. Our focus heading into this meet was to compete at the highest level that we could, this being the first chance to assess the progress we have made through our training."
Ivy Vallely (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) and
Kamila Roman both had the top finishes for the Saxons on the day, finishing third in their events before the Tigers began exhibitioning their competitors. Vallely finished third in the 1,000-yard freestyle, racing to a time of 12:28.91. Roman took third in the 100-yard butterfly with a mark of 1:03.76
"We have some pretty ambitious goals this season, and most of the results today reassured me that we are in a great place with our progression in comparison to first meets in some of our more recent seasons," Coach Striker said. "Most of our efforts today are tracking ahead of where we were a year ago, which is what I like to see. The key for us, will be to stay focused on where we want to be in February, and consistently take steps in that direction."
Vallely earned third in the 500-yard freestyle as well, finishing in 5:55.38. Roman added another third place finish with a 26.48 timing in the 50-yard freestyle.
The Saxons will next host the Golden Flyers of Nazareth College on Friday, October 28 at 5:00pm in the McLane Natatorium.
-- Swords Forward Saxons --