ITHACA, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) swim & dive teams closed out the 2026 Liberty League Swimming & Diving Championships with a strong final-day showing today at Ithaca College, as the women's team secured a second-place finish and the men earned third place in the nine-team field following four days of competition.

The morning began with the 1650 freestyle, where RPI was represented on both the men's and women's sides. Sam Ciegler led the Engineers in the men's distance event, placing fifth with a time of 16:18.79, while Connor Freeze added points with an eighth-place finish in 16:45.39. Ellie Tandlmayer finished fifth overall in the 1650 freestyle, touching in 18:08.38 to contribute valuable points toward RPI's runner-up team total.

Sprint performances followed in the 100 freestyle, highlighted by Sierra Pargett's fourth-place finish in 52.31 seconds. Vera Korff also reached the scoring positions, finishing sixth with a time of 52.81 seconds as the Engineers continued to build momentum through the middle of the session.

The 200 backstroke proved to be a marquee event for RPI, led by a championship-winning performance from Jason Weller. Weller captured first place with a time of 1:48.30, earning an NCAA B qualifying mark in the process and providing one of the top highlights of the meet's final day. Rittivuth Chea followed with an eighth-place finish in 1:55.02. On the women's side, RPI placed three swimmers in the top eight, paced by Ellen Lorentz in fourth at 2:05.69 and Caroline Steeves in fifth at 2:05.73, with Daytona Duggan finishing eighth in 2:09.49.

RPI added additional points in the 200 breaststroke, as Audrey Lewis earned a podium finish with a third-place swim in 2:26.55. Katie Pierce placed seventh at 2:30.44, and Allison Biunno followed in eighth with a time of 2:32.76 to round out the individual events for the Engineers.

The championships concluded with the 400 freestyle relays, where both RPI squads finished on the podium. The men's relay team of Jason Weller, Beckham Palmer, Tyler Kim, and Ethan Young placed third with a time of 3:04.30.

The women's relay of Vera Korff, Theresa Funderburk, Elizabeth Rose, and Sierra Pargett closed the meet with a second-place finish in 3:30.53, punctuating a consistent and high-scoring championship performance.