Ithaca College

Mike Blakely-Armitage '00 is in his second stint as a coach for the Ithaca men's swimming and diving program, recently promoted to Head Coach. Upon his graduation in 2000, Blakely-Armitage joined the men's swimming and diving staff from 2000 to 2004, while also assisting the women's swimming and diving program in 2004. During his time as an assistant at Ithaca College, the men's swimming and diving team won its first conference championship in 2001 and went on to win two more during his tenure. At the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, Blakely-Armitage was promoted to associate head coach of both the men's and women's swimming and diving programs. Recently, he helped guide the guide the women’s program to it’s third-straight Liberty League conference championship and put together an 18th place finish at the 2021-22 NCAA Division III Championships. The men finished second at the Liberty League conference meet, finished 18th as a team at NCAA's and had three All-American relays, three top eight finishes, and a national champion in Jack Wadsworth who also set the Division III record in the 100 backstroke. Prior to his return to South Hill, Blakely-Armitage served as the head men's swimming and diving coach at Ithaca High School for 10 years (2009-19) as well as the women's head coach from 2015-19. During his time with the Little Red, the men's team had a perfect 72-0 dual meet record and won eight Section IV titles, while notching 17 All-Americans and breaking three state records. The men's team also boasted four individual, three relay state champions and numerous Academic All-Americans during that time. On the women's side, the Little Red compiled a dual meet record of 27-1 and won three Section IV titles.

Christopher Griffin enters his 10th season as the Head Diving Coach and Aquatics Coordinator at Ithaca College for the 2024-25 season. A two-time NCAA Division III Women’s Diving Coach of the Year (2018 and 2024), Chris guided Nickie Griesmer (17’ Undergrad, ’19 DPT) to a pair of national championships, winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter dive in 2018. Nickie Griesmer was Ithaca's first-ever diving national champion and the fourth female in swimming & diving program histroy. During that 2017-18 season, Griffin qualified four additional divers to the NCAA Championships (Anna Belson, Katie Helly, Linsey Suddaby, and Alyssa Wishart), marking the first time in the NCAA DIII Championship history that a program had sent five divers of a single sex. During the 2021-22 season, Griffin guided Ava Lowell (’21 Undergrad, ’23 DPT) to a National Title on the 3-meter. The team additionally sent 6 divers to the NCAA Region 4 Championship meet, and once again matched the 2018 team, qualifying 5 women (Rachel Lange, Ava Lowell, Abby Marraccino, Karalyn Pawcio, and Eliana Wallock) to the NCAA DIII Championships. The 2022-23 season saw the Bombers qualify four divers for the NCAA Division III Championships (Karalyn Pawcio, Abby Marraccino, Leah Levin and Rachel Lange). During the first day of competition at NCAA's, Ithaca saw a pair of divers crowned First Team All-Americans as Karalyn Pawcio finished second and Rachel Lange was eighth in 3-meter diving. Those performances were followed up by Leah Levin finishing third overall on the 1-meter diving boards as she was just over four points behind the winner Sydney Blestein (431.40), as the sophomore scored a 427.65. Finishing in fifth-place and also earning First Team All-America honors was Karalyn Pawcio. Most recently, Griffin coached Kailee Payne who won the national championship on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards during the 2023-24 season. She became the program's sixth-ever individual national championy as she won on the 3-meter with a finals score of 509.50 and bested the field on the 1-meter boards with a score of 515.15. Overall, the Bombers sent three divers (Kailee Payne, Abby Marraccino and Angela Burke) to the national championships with Abby Marraccino also adding a pair of Honorable Mention All-American finishes. Ithaca College Coaching Highlights 3 National Champion (5 Performances) 15 divers earned NCAA All-America honors a total of 46 titles 15 NCAA Qualifiers (25 Total Performances) 24 NCAA Region 4 Qualifiers (61 Performances) 8 Liberty League Champions (16 Performances) 25 Liberty League Finalists (104 Performances) 7 Liberty League Diver of the meet award winners 1 UNYSCA Diver of the Meet award winner 2 Time NCAA Women’s Diving Coach of the Year 2018, 2024 2 Time UNYSCA Diving Coach of the year *The award ended in 2017 Women (2) - 2016, 2017 Griffin began coaching in 2005, and has been the Head Diving Coach at Mexico, Vestal, Maine Endwell, Evolution Diving Club, and the Ithaca Diving Clinic. Under his tutelage, these teams have produced: 31 - NYS HS Championship Qualifiers 13 - NYS HS Championship Finalists 1 - NYS HS Champion Griffin earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Cortland in 2005, was a two-time SUNYAC finalist in both 1- and 3-meter diving as a Red Dragon. As a senior he served as a team captain and was the recipient of Cortland’s prestigious George Breen Award.