Ithaca, NY – Freshman Jon Ketcham (East Aurora, NY) of the Clarkson University Swim team saved his best for last at the UNYSCSA meet, coming in 16th in the 200 breaststroke to highlight the Golden Knights performance on Saturday at the regional meet.

Clarkson’s men finished the event in 11th among 14 teams with 266 points, while the women took 14th out of 15 teams with 142 points.

Ketcham placed 11th in the preliminaries with a time of 2:13.22, but saw his time fall off by close to a second (2:14.16) in the finals to fall to 16th overall. Ketcham was nearly joined in the finals by a pair of his teammates as junior Chris Plummer (Spencerport, NY) and Aaron Parysek (Spencerport, NY) finished in the first two spots outside of the finals in 25th and 26th, place, respectively.

Sophomore Tyler Nichols (Spencerport, NY) did squeeze into the finals in the 200 backstroke, placing 24th with a time of 2:01.70. Senior Stephen Maxwell (Latham, NY) also raced well in the event, taking 30th overall.

In the lengthiest event of the meet, one that goes without a preliminary, both Sean Parnett (Clifton Park, NY) and Nick Hens (Liverpool, NY) produced tallies for the Knights. Parnett came in 17th with a time of 17:26.83, while Hens placed 23rd in 18:20.02

In the 100 freestyle, senior Paul Telesca (Liverpool, NY) couldn’t quite edge his way into the finals, placing 27th in 48.46 seconds. Freshman Sam Zagrobelny (East Amherst, NY) took 32nd, while Alex Trass (Greene, NY), Liam Sharkey (Malta, NY), Paul Kreppel (Clarence, NY), Nate Menapace (Baldwinsville, NY), Steve Cevaer (Ransomville, NY) and Travis Derr (Lakeville, CT) also competed in a crowded 100 freestyle field.

On the women’s side, senior Jillian Brown (Kenmore, NY) had her best performance of the weekend, placing 21st in the preliminaries in the 100 freestyle and finishing 22nd in the finals, posting identical times of 55.41 seconds . The Knights were busy in the 100 freestyle as well, with Kelly Ludeke (Burnt Hills, NY), Deonna Coleman (Derby, NY), Kelly Mulvehill (Penfield, NY), Courtney Karszes (Stanley, NY), Abby Luber (Camillus, NY), and Jackie Yeaton (Merrimack, NH) also came up short of the finals in the preliminary heats.

While the Knights had no swimmers in the 200 breaststroke, Molly Kelso (Exeter, NH) and Katrina Smith (Ballston Spa, NY) finished back-to-back in the 200 backstroke, with Kelso taking 37th in 2:36.76. In the 1650 freestyle, Colleen Daly (Manlius, NY) came up just short of scoring for Clarkson, placing 26th with a time of 19:30.05.

In the final event of the day, Clarkson’s women placed 13th in the 400 freestyle relay, with Coleman, Brown, Kimberlee Stillittano (Binghamton, NY), and Ludeke combining for a time of 3:53.55. The men’s 400 freestyle relay squad of Parnett, Nick Short (Endwell, NY), Zagrobelny, and Telesca came in 11th in 3:15.21.