Purchase, NY - Purchase College head swim coach Peter Nestel locked up Coach of the Year honors for men's and women's Skyline Conference swim, leading the Panthers to a third-place finish on the women's side and a fourth-place finish on the men's side at league finals – both of which were chock full of personal bests.

Nestel, who had previously won a Skyline Women's Coach of the Year honor, takes home his second on the women's side and his first on the men's side in only second season of the program as a varsity sport. His women's team, which won the league and tournament crowns two of the last years coming into Saturday's finale, rung up a nice bronze finish in a season that was dominated by rival Mount Saint Mary. The Knights won the women's title on Saturday at Old Westbury.

“As a coach, you always want to have your teams peeking at championships and that's exactly what we did,” said Nestel. “I'm very proud of their overall team and overall individual performances. I'm also humbled by the conference's decision to name me coach of the year. I'd like to thank the conference and all of the coaches in the league. It was a great year of swimming for the Skyline.”

Senior Ryan Luchsinger placed first in both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events and Maritime set a meet record in the 400-yard freestyle relay en route to capturing its fifth consecutive league title on Saturday at the 2012 Skyline Swimming Championships, held at the Clark Athletic Center.

On the women's side, senior Censi Danner won three individual events and swam a leg on the record-setting 400-yard freestyle relay to lead Mount Saint Mary to its third conference title in five seasons.

Luchsinger posted a winning time of 1:03.68 in the 100-yard breaststroke and set a conference record in the 200-yard breaststroke with a mark of 2:25.40 before pairing with Jonathan DaSilva, Joseph Tucker and Collin McNamara on the Privateers' record-setting 400-yard freestyle relay (3:25.03). Luchsinger was tabbed the 2011-12 Skyline Men's Swimmer of the Year for his efforts, while DaSilva took gold in the 100-yard butterfly (55.51) and 200-yard butterfly (2:09.98).

Freshman Bryan Woodhead of Old Westbury garnered Rookie of the Year distinction after registering a meet record in the 50-yard freestyle (21.28) and placing first in the 100-yard freestyle (47.62) and 100-yard backstroke (53.87) events.

Maritime amassed 170 points to outdistance runner-up Old Westbury (69). Led by senior Enrique Naudy's victories in the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.08) and 200-yard backstroke (2:05.69), Mount Saint Mary finished third with 43 points, followed by Purchase (39) and Mount Saint Vincent (26).

Danner claimed the 50-yard freestyle (25.79), 100-yard freestyle (57.74) and 200-yard individual medley (2:21.27) events as Mount Saint Mary amassed 115 points and captured the women's title. St. Joseph's-L.I. finished second with 96 points, followed by Purchase (64), Maritime (38), Old Westbury (21) and Mount Saint Vincent (18).

MSMC freshman Meghan Seaman earned Skyline Rookie of the Year honors after placing first in the 200-yard freestyle (2:11.13) and 1,000-yard freestyle (12:15.07) events, while teammate Allison Wyatt won the 100-yard breaststroke (1:10.94) and established a conference record in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:37.68). The duo then teamed up with Danner and junior Brianna Perazella to capture the 400-yard freestyle relay in a Skyline-record time of 4:00.36.

Danner was named the 2011-12 Skyline Female Swimmer of the Year, while sophomore Lauren Ouzounian of St. Joseph's-L.I. shattered league records in both the 100-yard backstroke (1:03.75) and 200-yard backstroke (2:19.06) for the second consecutive year. Mount Saint Mary earned the men's and women's Team Sportsmanship Awards, while Nestel of Purchase was tabbed the men's and women's Coach of the Year.

The Panthers received three individual All-Skyline selections (Jeffrey Sutera and Kamara Lewis, 2nd and 1st team, respectively, with Lewis (SO/Jamaica, NY) also garnering a 2nd team nod) and one 2nd team for the 200-yard medley relay team. See all winners below.

“Jeffrey and Kamara were the point leaders and really did a magnificent job,” Nestel noted.

The Panthers posted personal bests throughout and seemed to shave time in nearly every race, starting with the 200-yard medley relay team on both the men's and women's side.

Allison Panzironi (FR/Pine Island, NY) went from a seed time of 13:55.01 to a finals time 13:43.64 in the 1,000 freestyle; Samir Mekrami (SO/Brooklyn, NY) came in 14 plus seconds ahead of his usual time in the 1,000 (13:34.83/13:20.76); The 200 freestyle was highlighted by Christina Muller* (SR/Poughkeepsie, NY), Lisa Lakeman (FR/East Hampton, NY) and Sydney Cohen (SO/Oceanside, NY), who all toppled their best season times en route to second, eighth and ninth place finishes, respectively.

Later in the championship finale, Alexandria Bodick (FR/New Canaan, CT) shed her 1:13.74 down to a 1:11.95 in the 100 backstroke and teammate Sutera went from 1:02.50 to 1:00.57 in the same event, keeping the Panthers in the hunt for the crown through the first 10 events.

Caj Piltzecker (FR/Demerest, NY), Bianca Covello (FR/Woodstock, NY) and Anna Krol (FR/Oceanside, NY) looked sharp as well, also trimming off times in their respective events. Seth Feingersh (SR/Bayside, NY) was masterful in the 200 butterfly, surpassing his 2:56.59 on his way to a 2:38.03 finals time. Sutera (FR/New Hartford, NY) and Muller would then dominate the 50 free, helping the Panthers finish among the top teams at championships.

Not to be outdone, Bodick and Patricia Fazzino (JR/Bayport, NY) hauled in better times in the 200 back, while Sutera, Krol and Muller continued to roll in the 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke, respectively.

“I'm very impressed with the times,” Nestel said. “Congratulations to our team on a fantastic season.”

Men's First-Team All-Conference (Event champions)

David Mierzwa, Maritime (1,000-yard freestyle)
Enrique Naudy, Mount Saint Mary (200-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke)
Bryan Woodhead, Old Westbury (50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke)
Ryan Luchsinger, Maritime (100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke)
Jonathan DaSilva, Maritime (100-yard butterfly, 200-yard butterfly)
Alex Dwyer, Maritime (500-yard freestyle)
Ricky Damiano, Old Westbury (200-yard individual medley)
Jonathan DaSilva, Joseph Tucker, Collin McNamara, Ryan Luchsinger, Maritime (400-yard freestyle relay)
Zach Haughn, Dominic Pereira, Jonathan DaSilva, Collin McNamara, Maritime (200-yard medley relay)

Men's Second-Team All-Conference (second-place finishers)

Eric Reimer, Maritime (1,000-yard freestyle)
Michael Marte, Mount Saint Vincent (100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle)
Jeffrey Sutera, Purchase (100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke)
Dominic Pereira, Maritime (100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke)
Zach Haughn, Maritime (200-yard butterfly)
Ryan Luchsinger, Maritime (50-yard freestyle)
Collin McNamara, Maritime (100-yard freestyle)
David Mierzwa, Maritime (500-yard freestyle)
Alex Dwyer, Maritime (200-yard individual medley)
Mark Bohlinger, Ryan Murray, Conor Dowd, Enrique Naudy, Mount Saint Mary (400-yard freestyle relay)
Bryan Woodhead, Stephen Paul, Ricky Damiano, Cameron Russo, Old Westbury (200-yard medley relay)

Women's First-Team All-Conference (Event champions)

Meghan Seaman, Mount Saint Mary (200-yard freestyle, 1,000-yard freestyle)
Lauren Ouzounian, St. Joseph's-L.I. (100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke)
Allison Wyatt, Mount Saint Mary (100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke)
Jessica Alessi, St. Joseph's-L.I. (200-yard butterfly)
Censi Danner, Mount Saint Mary (50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley)
Amanda Schneider, St. Joseph's-L.I. (500-yard freestyle)
Kamara Lewis, Purchase (100-yard butterfly)
Meghan Seaman, Allison Wyatt, Brianna Perazella, Censi Danner, Mount Saint Mary (400-yard freestyle relay)
Lauren Ouzounian, Allison Grega, Jessica Alessi, Melissa Nocco, St. Joseph's-L.I. (200-yard medley relay)

Women's Second-Team All-Conference (second-place finishers)

Deidre Kenny, Mount Saint Mary (1,000-yard freestyle)
Lydia Coleman, Old Westbury (50-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle)
Brianna Perazella, Mount Saint Mary (100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke)
Allison Grega, St. Joseph's-L.I. (100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke)
Kamara Lewis, Purchase (200-yard butterfly)
Meghan Seaman, Mount Saint Mary (100-yard freestyle)
Janet Marmol, Old Westbury (500-yard freestyle)
Janna Libby, Mount Saint Vincent (100-yard butterfly)
Lauren Ouzounian, St. Joseph's-L.I. (200-yard individual medley)
Mariel VanderLinden, Kwantisha Lozada, Charlotte Acklin, Leighahn Ferrari, Maritime (400-yard freestyle relay)
Alexandria Bodick, Bianca Covello, Kamara Lewis, Christina Muller*, Purchase (200-yard medley relay)

-Skyline Sports Information Contributed to this report.

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