WEBSTER, NY -- The Alfred University men's swimming & diving team jumped ahead of SUNY Brockport to third place heading into the final day of the Empire 8 Championships.

"We had another good day at the pool today, the team continues to perform at or above expectations," Head Coach Brian Striker '00 said. "The guys made up some ground today in the overall score thanks to some good relays and diving, and some great swimming all around. The swimmers continue to impress me with the high percentage of best times that they are achieving!"

One of those good relays came in the 200-yard medley relay. After being disqualified in a relay on Thursday, they took advantage of a SUNY Geneseo disqualification to win gold with a time of 1:33.81. The winning-relay team consisted of William LaMastus (Maumee, OH/Anthony Wayne), Wade LaMastus (Maumee, OH/Anthony Wayne), Emmanuel Drappatz (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel Area), and Emiliano Terrazas (LA Paz, Bolivia/Saint Andrew's). 

Will LaMastus added on an individual medal of his own, finishing second in the 100-yard backstroke A-Final with a 51.15. Paul Tuttle (Irondequoit, NY/Irondequoit) wasn't far behind in fourth in the same event at 51.90. Diego Monroy (Mexico City, Mexico/Colegio Simon Bolivar) was the third Saxon in the event, wrapping up a 57.58.

The other LaMastus brother, Wade, and Terrazas were also in the A-Final of the 100-breaststroke, with times of 58.83 and 59.13 respectively. Meanwhile in the diving well, Ryan Way (Penfield, NY/Penfield) and Jordan Annlee (Henrietta, NY/Rush-Henrietta) added on to the point total with high scores of 329.75 and 275.30 respectively in the 1-meter dive.

In the final relay of the night, a third place finish helped launch the Saxons over the Golden Eagles. The 800-freestyle relay with the aforementioned Will LaMastus and Terrazas, along with Sean Killian (Kenmore, NY/St. Joseph's Collegiate Institution) and Carlos Gonzalez (Baja California, Mexico/Unifront). They clocked in at 7:09.06.

AU will look to not only hold off SUNY Brockport, but eye on catching Hartwick College for the second spot in the final day of competition on Saturday. The preliminaries start at 10:30 a.m., with the final events of the season starting at 5:30 p.m.