FINAL RESULTS
ITHACA, N.Y. – The 2025 Liberty League Swimming and Diving Championships wrapped up on Saturday at the Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium on the campus of Ithaca College with 11 events – five for the women and six for the men in the final day of the four-day championship.
Ithaca College captured its sixth consecutive Liberty League Women's Swimming & Diving title after leading the championship from day one. The Bombers cruised to the team title as they finished with 1,700 and a margin of victory of 220.5 points ahead of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), who finished second with 1,479.5.
On the men's side, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) earned its fourth straight Liberty League Men's Swimming & Diving title as the Tigers earned the team victory with 1,688 points. The Tigers finished the championship with a 164-point advantage ahead of runner-up Ithaca (1,524).
FINAL TEAM SCORES:
WOMEN: 1. Ithaca 1700; 2. RPI 1479.5; 3. RIT 1297; 4. Skidmore 857; 5. Vassar 675; 6. Union 550; 7. St. Lawrence 537.5; 8. Clarkson 495; 9. William Smith 352; 10. Bard 139.
MEN: 1. RIT 1688; 2. Ithaca 1524; 3. RPI 1348; 4. Clarkson 882; 5. Skidmore 850; 6. Vassar 564; 7. Union 356; 8. Hobart 217; 9. St. Lawrence 194; 10. Bard 141.
MEET AWARDS:
WOMEN
- Swimmer of the Meet: Shannon Brown, RPI – Brown was named Swimmer of the Meet for the second straight year. She won two individual events this year: the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle and added a runner-up finish in the 200-yard individual medley. She also took part in three of RPI's relays (200-yard freestyle, 400-yard freestyle, 200-yard medley). The Engineers won the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay; they also earned bronze in the 200-yard medley relay.
- Diver of the Meet: Kailee Payne, Ithaca – Payne was recognized as Diver of the Meet for the second straight year. She earned victories from both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards for the second consecutive championship. On the 1-meter, she posted a final score of 553.65 and then followed it up with a score of 558.95 from the 3-meter.
MEN
- Swimmer of the Meet: Drew Scheib, RIT – Scheib earned top honors in three individual events: 200-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, and 200-yard butterfly. He also had a hand in four of RIT's five winning relays—400-yard freestyle, 400-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle, and 200-yard medley.
- Diver of the Meet: Gellert Kish, RIT – Kish was named Diver of the Meet for the fourth straight year. He swept both championship diving events for the first time since 2023 and third time in his career (2022, 2023, 2025). He was the 3-meter board champion for the third consecutive championship, totaling a score of 583.30 points. From the 1-meter, he tallied a score of 552.64.
Highlights from Saturday championship action:
WOMEN
- RPI first-year Gwenyth Snyder, seeded second in the event, won the 1,650 freestyle (mile) with a time of 17:46.72. She finished nearly four seconds ahead of Skidmore sophomore Sabrina Reed (17:50.46).
- RPI senior Shannon Brown was a repeat champion in the 100-yard freestyle as she earned her second individual victory of the championship. She posted an NCAA B-cut, championship, and association record time of 51.38. She narrowly edged teammate sophomore Sierra Pargett and RIT sophomore Anna Beahan for gold, they both posted championship record times of 51.57 and 51.58. Brown shattered her own championship record time set last year (51.65) and she broke the association record from 2019 (51.38).
- Ithaca sophomore Samantha Bender won the 200-yard backstroke in 2:05.72, finishing just over a second ahead of runner-up RPI sophomore Caroline Steeves (2:06.92)
- Ithaca College first-year Sydney Koehler claimed top honors in the 200-yard breaststroke in one of the closest races of the evening. She posted a time of 2:20.86, edging RIT senior Anna Peshenko by seventh-tenths of a second. Peshenko (2:20.93), the runner-up, was the three-time defending champion in the event and the top seed; Koehler was seeded second coming into the championship.
- Ithaca swept the top three spots in the 3-meter diving event with all three scoring dives of more than 500 points. Senior Kailee Payne was a repeat champion and easily eclipsed the runner-up by 27 points; totaling a finals score of 558.95. Teammate and classmate Angela Burke finished second with a score of 531.95 and senior Jennell Slesser rounded out the top-three (501.95) divers.
- The RPI 400-yard freestyle relay consisting of sophomore Sierra Pargett, senior Colleen Whittaker, sophomore Elizabeth Rose and senior Shannon Brown recorded an NCAA B-cut time of 3:26.67, winning the event by more than four seconds ahead of runner-up Ithaca (3:31.45). It was also a championship (3:28.64) and association (3:28.01) record time.
MEN
- RIT first-year Josh Berty posted a victory in the 1,650 freestyle (mile) in record breaking fashion with a championship meet record time of 15:57.71. He cruised to victory, winning by over 23 seconds en route to shattering the record of 16:07.76 set at the 2023 championship.
- RPI graduate student Mike Dowd won his second individual event of the championship in the 100-yard freestyle with a NCAA B-cut time of 44.44.
- RPI sophomore Jason Weller was a repeat champion in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing in 1:49.17. His prelim time of 1:49.00 earlier in the day was a NCAA B-cut time. It was his second individual event victory of the championship.
- RIT senior Ben Sippel swam to victory in the 200-yard breaststroke with a finals time of 2:03.17, shaving 1.6 seconds off his time set at prelims as the top seed. He finished ahead of a pair of Clarkson swimmers in the finals session, sophomore Drew Sammons (2:05.34) and senior Calvin Woolfolk (2:05.82).
- RIT won its fifth relay of the championship with a victory in the 400-yard freestyle (senior Jake Sapp, senior Kai Loui, sophomore Eric Noga, and senior Drew Schieb). They posted a NCAA B cut time of 3:00.78 and finished over three seconds ahead of second-place Ithaca (3:03.76).