WEBSTER, NY -- The Alfred University men's swimming & diving team opened up the first of four days of competition in the Empire 8 Championship meet.

"This opening session was one of the best we've ever had," Head Coach Brian Striker '00 said. "Almost all had best times each time they swam, which is pretty amazing."

First-year swimmer Sean Killian (Kenmore, NY/St. Joseph's Collegiate Instiution) led the way with his individual podium finish in the 500-yard freestyle. He took home the first hardware of the week for the Saxons, finishing third in the A-Final with a time of 4:46.06. 

It wouldn't be the last silverware collected by AU either on Tuesday, as the relay squads did their thing too. In the A-Final of the 400-yard medley relay consisting of William LaMastus (Maumee, OH/Anthony Wayne), Carlos Gonzalez (Baja California, Mexico/Unifront), Emmanuel Drappatz (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel Area), and Emiliano Terrazas (La Paz, Bolivia/Saint Andrew's) came home second with a 3:27.94.

In the B-Final of the relay, the Saxons' B-team finished ahead of Nazareth's A-Team in overall finishing time. The relay squad with Paul Tuttle (Irondequoit, NY/Irondequoit), Wade LaMastus (Maumee, OH/Anthony Wayne), Keagen Winkky (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads), and the aforementioned Killian wrapped up a 3:31.86, almost 20 seconds faster than the Golden Flyers.

Gonzalez just missed out on an individual medal himself in the 200-yard IM, still finishing an impressive fourth in his first conference championship race at 1:53.06 - which was a new school record. Terrazas was sixth in the same competition, clocking in at 1:58.69. 

Alexander Villegas (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads), Wade LaMastus, and Drappatz also all competed in the B-Final of the 50-yard freestyle, coming in with respective times of 21.92, 22.16, and 22.20. Other evening racers included Tucker Jones (Fort Plain, NY/Fort Plain) in the B-Final of the 500-yard free, where he finished with a time of 5:18.25.

The Saxons currently sit third in the overall standings with three more days of competition ahead. As of the publishing of this release, preliminaries on Thursday morning start at 10:00 a.m., and the finals taking place at 5:30 p.m.