ALFRED, NY – Alfred University's Andre Ayala (Mexico City, Mexico/Preparatoria No°5) was named an Empire 8 Men's Swimming & Diving Co-Swimmer of the Week on Monday afternoon.
 
Ayala was undefeated in his individual events as he helped the Saxons defeat University of Rochester for the first time since 1992 while also picking up a win over Fredonia. He began his Saturday efforts with a dominant win in the 1,000-yard freestyle, clocking a time of 9:55.23, almost 15 seconds faster than everyone else. He then had over a 10-second win in the 500-yard freestyle, winning it with a time of 4:48.11. Ayala closed out his individual efforts with a 4:08.54 first place time in the 400-yard individual medley, defeating the rest of the pool by over 13 seconds. The 400-IM was the last individual race of the day, just before the 200-yard freestyle relay, after swimming 1,900 yards on the day, Ayala was entered in the relay, swimming the anchor leg of the AU B-team, where he swam a split of 22.23, good enough that if he had joined the A-team, Ayala would have helped the Saxons pick up the last win of the night.
 
Ayala's Weekly Award is AU's fourth of the early season, following the three accolades earned by teammate, Youssef amr Abdallatif (Cairo, Egypt/Raya Language School). He shares this week's recognition with SUNY Geneseo's Alex Palmer who broke the school record in the 100-yard breaststroke helping the Knights finish fifth in the DIII Shootout against schools from all across the country.
 
Ayala was joined in the Empire 8 Weekly Awards by Jack Bestpitch (Buffalo, NY/St. Mary's of Lancaster) as a Football Co-Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday. He was also named a Saxon of the Week alongside women's basketball's Jaidyn Chest (Mayfield, NY/Mayfield).