Herons Head to Championships
17 February 2020 Herons Head to Championships
William Smith College will compete in the 2020 Liberty League Swimming and Diving Championships this week, Feb. 19-22, hosted by Ithaca College.
The conference championship will be decided over a four-day period starting Wednesday at the Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium at the Athletics and Events Center at Ithaca. Each day will be split into two sessions, prelims and finals. Prelims will begin at 10 a.m., while the finals will start at 6 p.m. The Herons will look to improve upon last years sixth place finish.
Spectator seating at Ithaca is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets are $15 per session, half price for children 12 years or younger, and will be sold during finals sessions only.
Fans can follow the Liberty League Championships online with up to date meetresultsand livevideoprovided by Ithaca College.
SeniorAnna Lefflerled the Herons at last years championships, posting top eight finishes in the six individual events she swam. She broke the William Smith 400-yard individual medley record twice. Leffler first broke the Heron 400 IM record in December of 2017, and lowered it to 4:40.82 in December of 2018. In the prelims, she improved her mark again, qualifying second for the championship final in 4:38.42. In the finals, Leffler lowered her time to 4:36.05. In the process of breaking the 800 freestyle relay record, Leffler also broke the 200 free record. She clocked in at 1:56.05, and the relay team finished in 7:49.74, to place second overall and shatter a 30 year-old record.
SophomoreKatie Mullinbroke the William Smith 50 backstroke record, touching the wall at 28.07. She eclipsed the school record originally set by Vibeke Hopkinson 83 on March 12, 1983, and equaled by Leffler two years ago. Mullin was also 0.08 seconds away from improving the schools 100 backstroke mark.
The Herons finished the regular season with a 7-1 dual meet record. William Smith defeated Cazenovia and Wells in the final meet of the regular season, as Leffler broke a pair of Bristol Pool records. William Smith won 11 out of 14 events to secure the victory.