ITHACA, NY - It was another outstanding morning of preliminaries for the Vassar men's and women's swimming & diving teams, who saw 23 individuals qualify for the event final races on Friday night. Action at the 2022 Liberty League Championships kicks-off at 6pm this evening - highlighted by three swimmers competing in the championship finals of both the women's 200-butterfly and the women's 100-backstroke.

Opening the day's qualifying was the men's 200-butterfly as senior Max White earned seventh overall in 1:55.96 to secure a spot in the Championship Final. Junior Jason Albaum was 12th in a time of 1:57.95 and will swim in the Consolation Final, while rookie Tyler Tsukuda was 17th overall in 2:05.14 and will swim in the Bonus Final. In the women's event, junior Lillian Lowenthal paced the way, taking second in the prelims in a time of 2:09.13. Sophomore Alejandra Robins was third in 2:10.09, while junior Grace Myers was fourth in a time of 2:11.22. All three will appear in the Championship Final for Vassar tonight. Rookie Maya Luongo placed 10th in 2:19.58, while sophomore Karlie Porter was 13th in 2:21.58 - both advance to the Consolation Final. Rounding out the action was sophomore Abby Wang, who posted a time of 2:27.89 for 23rd overall and a spot in the Bonus Final.

Next up was the 100-backstroke and the men's side was paced by junior Nick D'Arrigo, who was seventh in 53.24 to earn a spot in the Championship Final. Classmate Leroy Wang was 22nd overall in 1:00.13 and will swim in tonight's Bonus Final. On the women's side, senior Jesse Ecklund shined, finishing with the top preliminary time of the morning in 56.83. That mark was just shy of an NCAA B Cut (56.82). Last night as she led off the 400-medley relay event, Ecklund posted her first NCAA B Cut with a time of 56.73. In addition to Ecklund, the Brewers will also see sophomores Sarah Quintana and Jolie Walker in the Championship Final on Friday. Quintana finished fifth overall in 58.05, while Walker was seventh in 59.30. Rookie Jordan Marlow took 21st in the event in 1:02.83 and will swim the Bonus Final.

In the men's 100-breaststroke, a bevvy of Vassar swimmers were in action, led by senior Nikolas Pham, who took 18th in 1:00.80. Sophomore Rory Stumpf was 19th in 1:01.14, while rookie Hayden Ehrenfeld was 21st with a time of 1:02.13. Sophomore Hanlin Wang was 22nd in 1:02.43, while senior Brandon Li rounded out the efforts in 23rd in 1:02.55. All five swimmers will compete in tonight's Bonus Final. In the women's event, senior Abby Jenkins took 17th overall in 1:12.11, while sophomore Szofia Lewis was 20th in 1:13.04. Both will also compete in the Bonus Finals.

Closing out the swimming action was the qualifying of the 800-free relays. On the men's side, Hanline Wang, Tsukuda, Stumpf and sophomore Lukas Johnson combined for a time of 7:29.40 - good for fifth overall, while on the women's side, Myers, Lowenthal, junior Abby Whittington and Ecklund powered their way to first in the prelims with a time of 7:58.57.

The men's 1-meter diving event preliminaries will begin at 1pm and will be posted here at the conclusion. Action at the finals tonight begins at 6pm and can be followed via the Championship Central page at https://athletics.ithaca.edu/sports/2022/2/2/2020-liberty-league-swimming-and-diving-championships-portal.aspx