CLARION, Pa. --- Connor Cary broke two individual pool records, was part of a pool-record relay, and nearly claimed another school record and the Golden Eagle men's swimming & diving team – partly depleted due to illness - defeated IUP 128-112 at Tippin Natatorium on Saturday afternoon.
 
The day had its share of emotions, as the Golden Eagles simultaneously waved good-bye to their seniors competing in their final home duals, while also welcoming back their alumni for a mid-meet recognition. That it was also the first meet after the team's four-day weekend in Akron, as well as the end of final exams week, was also not lost on head coach Bree Kelley.
 
"My expectation for this meet was just to race, have fun, and work on fine-tuning some things technically," Kelley said. "We still have a lot of work to do. I believe in consistency and repetition, and that doing things right time and time again breeds results, so we are working on tightening up our mechanics."
 
Cary first set the pool record in the 200 Free, winning the event with a time of 1:42.62. That broke the previous pool record set by Bloomsburg's Andy Thomas, a 1:44.32 during last year's dual meet with the Huskies. The senior also nearly broke the program's record in the 100 Back, touching the wall with a pool record time of 50.20. The program record is 50.02, set by Aaron Bell in 2004.
 
Rounding out the day was the 200 Free Relay team of Cary, David Bocci, Nolan Songer and Austin Prokopec. They produced a pool record with a time of 1:26.31, outpacing the Crimson Hawks' top relay team by more than five full seconds.
 
Those results were just some of the highlights from the Golden Eagles' win over the Crimson Hawks. The first win of the day, though, belonged to Ty Rabenstein, who cruised past the rest of the field in the 1000 Free. He finished in a time of 10:21.85, marking a 21-second lead on IUP's Luke Emmerling.
 
The Crimson Hawks enjoyed a stretch where they won several events in a row, but David Bocci broke the streak when he won the 100 Fly. Bocci finished in 51.01 for nine team points, while Mason Peck took third with a time of 52.12. Cary's win in the 100 Back provided another stack of points for Clarion in the pool.
 
Things continued to roll in the diving well, though, as the Golden Eagle men went 1-2-3 in both the 1-Meter Dive (Optionals) and 1-Meter Dive (Voluntary). Zach Schering won both events, scoring a 290.55 in the former and 181.95 in the latter. Jordan Morret placed second in the voluntary dives with a 166.40 while Jack Beattie was second in the optionals at 268.20; the two flip-flopped third-place finishes in those dives as well.