Jamestown Community College’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will compete in the NJCAA Region 3 championships this weekend at Monroe CC. Submitted photo

ROCHESTER — Jamestown Community College’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams return to the regional championship waters this weekend as they travel to Monroe Community College for events Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The men’s team finished third last year while the women finished second. Each squad returns some heavy hitters entering the 2024 title tilts.

The ladies enter the meet with a perfect 9-0 mark in conference action and have three swimmers with top-of-the-podium experience from last year. Lindsey Spitz earned three firsts and a second individually and was part of two relay teams that brought home gold.

That experience has the sophomore talking about lofty expectations.

“I am expecting our girls to come in first place. Individually, I took first place in three events and second in one event. I want to take first in all four events this year,” said Spitz.

Stacey Blackler is also back for the Jayhawks after a 2023 regional where she claimed a first, two seconds and a pair of third-place finishes. The native South African will be a key component to another strong showing.

Not to be outdone, the reigning Swimmer of the Meet and Year, Madison Kramer, is also pumped for another chance at gold.

“Definitely to win. I think the girls have a good shot at doing that,” said the Falconer product. Kramer appeared at the top of the mountain in all five of her events in last year’s regionals. Those three sophomores will be joined by Hayley Dawson, Ella Fosberg, Anna Jones and Paiden Wittmeyer in the pool. Jamestown CC also features a pair of divers who are re-writing the program record books in Ashlynn Swan and Shaylyn Owens.

On the men’s side, they’re also aiming for the top spot.

The guys are led by sophomore Maxim Johnson, who earned the Swimmer of the Meet and Year honors in 2023 while helping the men finish third as a team. Johnson captured those honors with five first-place finishes and a pair of seconds.

Turning the silver into gold is a motivation for the South African.

“More personal bests. Hopefully, win Swimmer of the Meet and Swimmer of the Year,” he said

Johnson is joined on the men’s squad by fellow sophomores Lukas Baer and Brady Lindstrom. That trio heads a group of four freshmen: Toby Gifford, Randall Hall, Rinat Kalimullin and Colton Schuman.

It doesn’t matter which team you talk to, men or women, they all agree keeping up a rigorous practice routine is one of their keys to success.

“I feel like achieving that is all the hard work I have put in all year. Being at practice every day and working hard. I mean, just eating well while we are there, getting lots of rest, and making sure we are warming up and cooling down good,” said Spitz.

“More hard work, We need to learn how to swim tired. There is going to be a lot of strain on our bodies, and not a lot of rest between races. It is learning how to stay focused and keep your mind in the game when you are really tired,” added Johnson.

While the men and women compete separately, they do have one main goal above the rest.

“This is our first championship meet,” said head coach Todd Conklin. “This is the next step of our journey. We had lofty goals at the beginning of the year to win the regional championship for both the men and the women, and that is the goal. We are hoping to come home with a team title as the men and women combined. That is the goal from day one. I think we are ready for this step.”

Day one of the regionals is slated for Friday at Monroe Community College. Days two and three will be on Saturday and Sunday. Monroe CC streams its events on its website.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Jamestown Community College hit five 3-pointers, but Niagara County CC answered with 12 of its own to down the Jayhawks 89-67 in front of a rowdy Jamestown CC crowd Wednesday night.

Jamestown CC found itself in an early hole with Jalen Duff sinking one of those triples in part of a 14-3 spurt to open the game. Jamestown CC stopped the bleeding on a 3-pointer from Ilyass Kaichi, who scored 9 points off the bench.

Jamestown CC was able to get it down to 11 midway through the half with a fast-break bucket from Jalyn Moorehead, who was one of three Jayhawks to hit double-digits by scoring 10.

Niagara County CC stretched things out to 19 as the half wound down. Will Beilein was a big part of that, knocking down a long-range bomb of his own.

Jamestown CC would get things to within 15 just before the break as Samad Bailey beat the buzzer with a jumper. Bailey also scored 10 on the night.

Jamestown CC made things interesting in the second. Jean Saint-Fort splashed an open long-rang shot to get the Jayhawks within 10. He led the team with 12 in the game.

Another field goal from Kaichi kept Jamestown within 12 at the four-minute mark, but that’s when Niagara County CC flexed again from distance. Finn Mohl came off the pine to stoke a pair of 3s, and the deficit went right back to 20.

It was too late for the Jayhawks to mount another rally as they fell 89-67.

Jamestown CC is now 7-17 on the year.

The Jayhawks are home again Tuesday when they host Erie CC in another league matchup.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Jamestown Community College looked good in the middle 20 minutes of its loss to Niagara County CC, but a slow start and finish doomed Jamestown CC in its 69-40 loss.

Jamestown started the game up a pair after Bethan Wallace hit a layup and a pair of free throws, but things fell apart from there.

Niagara County CC put together an 11-2 run thanks in large part to Rachel Kamrowski’s 3-pointers. She made a pair of long-range shots off the bench for the Thunderwolves.

The Jamestown CC deficit hit 17 before Myla Truitt got a steal and a bucket for two of her 12 to make it a 27-12 game. The hole grew to over 20 before the half ended, but a couple of 3s from Hayley Dawson gave Jamestown CC a puncher’s chance entering the break down by 20. Dawson had a team-high 13 to go along with six rebounds off the bench.

The Jayhawks’ best stretch came in the third quarter, with Dawson and Truitt hitting back-to-back buckets to get the lead back down under 20.

Things slipped away in the fourth quarter, where Jamestown CC was outscored 14-6 in those final 10 minutes.

Jamestown CC hit just one field goal in the final 3:41 before falling by 29.

The loss snaps a two-game winning streak, and puts JCC to 10-12 on the season.

They return to action on Tuesday with Erie CC coming to town.