Lehman College Athletics

It was a successful evening in the pool for the Lehman College swimming and diving teams as both units traveled to York College to battle the Cardinals in CUNYAC competition. Lehman’s women’s squad took care of business and clinched second place in the conference standings for the 2009-2010 season with a 116-84 victory over the Cardinals, while the Lightning men snapped a six-meet losing streak with an impressive 96-76 triumph over York.

On the women’s side, the Lightning were steady and consistent throughout the evening, capturing first place in eight of the 11 events contested. Veterans Luisa Garcia and Judy Espinal again were the top winners for the Lightning as each standout won two individual events while both were members of the victorious 200 medley relay team. The victory for the Lightning was Lehman’s fifth in their last seven meets, and the team seems poised for a run at a CUNYAC title.

Full Results

The Lehman College men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams returned to the pool on Friday as the teams welcomed the College of Staten Island Dolphins to the APEX Aquatics Center for a pair of CUNYAC meets. The Lehman men (1-7 Overall, 0-1 CUNYAC) fell to the Dolphins (6-1 Overall, 3-0 CUNYAC) by a score of 133-108, but the Lightning women were victorious (4-6 Overall, 3-1 CUNYAC), downing Staten Island (3-6 Overall, 1-3 CUNYAC) by a final of 141-90.

In the victory for the Lehman women, the Lightning came out with tremendous intensity and made an immediate impact as the 200 yard medley relay team of Adriana Navarrete, Jessica Espinal, Jessica Drenzyk, and Jillian Acevedo easily cruised to victory, finishing the competition at a time of 2:26.76. Also, it was Judy Espinal winning both sprint freestyle events while setting a new school standard in the 50 freestyle with a 26.96 lead-off leg in the meet’s final event, the 200 Freestyle Relay. Other notable wins came from Luisa Garcia in the 100 Backstroke, and Tanaka Nyemba in the 500 Freestyle. The Lightning women now have the second best conference record in CUNY, second only to Baruch who sits 5-0 in CUNYAC competition.

The Lehman College men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams returned the pool on Tuesday evening for their final meets for the month of December, as both squads welcomed the Mariners of USMMA King’s Point to the APEX Aquatics Center. The Lightning men (1-5 Overall, 0-0 CUNYAC) fell to King’s Point by a score of 144-84, while the Lehman women (3-5 Overall, 2-0 CUNYAC) had their three-meet winning streak snapped, falling to USMMA by a score of 129-94.

Despite the loss for Lehman’s men’s unit, the Lightning did put forth some tremendous performances and times. Joe Lara put together quite an evening, as he recorded a time of 3:07.52 in the 200 IM, a time of 1:10.96 in the 100 freestyle, and clocked in at 1:28.07 in the 100 Breaststroke competition. Also, it was Matthew Martinez swimming the 1000 freestyle in a time of 14:25.48, while Raymond Rodriguez completed the 100 freestyle in a time of 17:24.70.