The Liberty League has announced its 2025-26 Liberty League Men's Swimming & Diving major award receipients as voted by the conference's head coaches following NCAA Championships.
SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: Matthew Mitros, Graduate Student, Ithaca College
For the third time since the 2019-20 season, an Ithaca swimmer has been selected as the Liberty League Swimmer of the Year with Matthew Mitros earning the honor following the 2025-26 campaign. Mitros played a key role in leading the Bombers to their first Liberty League title at the 2026 conference championship with a trio of individual victories. He won the 50-yard freestyle in a personal-best and NCAA B-cut time of 19.92 seconds, while also producing personal-best efforts in the 100-yard freestyle (45.43) and 100-yard butterfly (48.38). In addition, he took part in both of Ithaca’s relay victories in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:21.27; B-Cut Time) and 400-yard medley relay (3:20.03), as well as runner-up finishes in the 200 medley relay (1:29.96) and 400 freestyle relay (3:02.67). He was named Co-Swimmer of the Meet following his performance at the championship. Mitros qualified for three events at the 2026 NCAA Division III Championships, tying for 35th in the 50-yard freestyle (20.43), placing 39th in the 100-yard freestyle (49.76), and finishing 40th in the 100-yard butterfly (48.30). Earlier in the season, he helped Ithaca secure the team title at the 14th Annual Bomber Invitational, winning the 50-yard freestyle (20.26) while also placing second in the 100-yard butterfly (47.08) and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle (47.08).
DIVER OF THE YEAR: Luke Albanese, Junior, Rochester Institute of Technology
RIT junior Luke Albanese has been named the Liberty League Diver of the Year, marking the fifth straight season that a Tiger diver has earned the honor. Albanese returned to the NCAA Championships for the third consecutive year, posting a pair of top-10 finishes to earn second team All-America recognition from both boards. He scored 469.85 points to place 10th on the 1-meter and was 10th on the 3-meter with 487.40 points. At the Liberty League Championships, Albanese won the 1-meter dive with a meet-record score of 566.90, while also finishing as the runner-up on the 3-meter with 596.60 points. He was named Liberty League Diver of the Meet following the championship. Albanese posted a pair of third-place showings at the NCAA Diving Regional (Region 4), held at RIT’s Judson/Hale Aquatic Center with scores of 499.60 (1-meter) and 502.50 (3-meter). In dual meet competition this season, Albanese won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events six times. A 10-time Liberty League Diver of the Week selection, he also swept both boards at the Don Richards Invitational in December and RIT’s Diving Invitational in February.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Griffin Tomsheck, Rochester Institute of Technology
RIT first-year Griffin Tomsheck was recognized as the Liberty League Rookie of the Year; it is the third time since 2022-23, a RIT first-year swimmer has been named Rookie of the Year. At Tomsheck’s first conference championship in February, he captured two individual titles, winning the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 55.49 seconds and the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:01.57. He also placed fourth in the 200-yard individual medley (1:54.38) and had a hand in RIT’s runner-up 400-yard medley relay (3:20.36), as the Tigers finished second overall at the 2026 championship. Other season highlights for Tomsheck included two individual victories at RIT’s Don Richards Invitational in the 200-yard individual medley (1:55.90) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:02.10). He also finished among the top 15 in three events at Chicago’s D3 Shootout in November: 200-yard breaststroke (12th, 2:05.23), 100-yard breaststroke (13th, 57.34), and 200-yard individual medley (15th, 1:57.39). Tomsheck earned Liberty League Swimmer of the Week honors once this season and was a three-time Liberty League Rookie of the Week selection.
COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR: Ithaca College
Ithaca College head coach Mike Blakely-Armitage and his staff were named Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year after leading the Bombers to their first Liberty League title in program history. Ithaca finished the 2026 championship with 1,722 points, including a 96.5-point margin over runner-up and defending champion RIT. The Bombers posted six individual victories and three relay wins, with 15 individuals and all five relays earning All-Liberty League honors (top-three finishes). Matthew Mitros, the Liberty League Championship’s Co-Swimmer of the Meet, led the way with three individual titles, winning the 50-yard freestyle in a personal-best and NCAA B-cut time of 19.92 seconds, while also setting personal-best times in the 100-yard freestyle (45.43) and 100-yard butterfly (48.38). Other individual champions for the Bombers were Ben Lajoie in the 400-yard individual medley (4:05.21), James Moore in the 200-yard butterfly (1:51.10), and Ryan Cooke in the 500-yard freestyle (4:31.98). The Bombers also captured three relay victories: the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:21.27; NCAA B-cut), 400-yard medley relay (3:20.03), and 800-yard freestyle relay (6:45.09), while finishing runner-up in the 200-yard medley relay (1:29.96) and 400-yard freestyle relay (3:02.67).
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE FIRST TEAM (Event Champions at Liberty League Championship)
1-Meter Diving – Luke Albanese, RIT
3-Meter Diving – Daniel Barrientos, Hobart
100 Backstroke – Griffin Messenlehner, RIT
200 Backstroke – Jason Weller, RPI
100 Breaststroke – Griffin Tomsheck, RIT
200 Breaststroke – Griffin Tomsheck, RIT
100 Butterfly – Matthew Mitros, Ithaca
200 Butterfly – James Moore, Ithaca
50 Freestyle – Matthew Mitros, Ithaca
100 Freestyle – Matthew Mitros, Ithaca
200 Freestyle – Jason Weller, RPI
500 Freestyle – Ryan Cooke, Ithaca
1650 Freestyle – Josh Berty, RIT
200 Individual Medley – Stephen Graver, RIT
400 Individual Medley – Ben Lajoie, Ithaca
200 Freestyle Relay – Ithaca (M. Mitros, A. Kutsner, R. Cooke, S. Alderson)
400 Freestyle Relay – RIT (F. Hilliard, E. Noga, K. Keyes, G. Messenlehner)
800 Freestyle Relay – Ithaca (B. Molitor-Kirsch, B. Lajoie, K. Kruppa, R. Cooke)
200 Medley Relay – RIT (G. Messenlehner, J. Frazier, K. Keyes, F. Hilliard)
400 Medley Relay – Ithaca (A. Kustner, W. Stanczewski, M. Mitros, R. Cooke)
Note: The Liberty League also recognizes second-place finishes at the championship as All-Liberty League Second Team and third place garners All-Liberty League Third Team honors.