Worcester, MA --- WPI men's swimming and diving continued its emergence as a program to watch on Day 3 of the NEWMAC Championships, as the meet host Engineers were a presence in all seven events, finishing the night session in second place with 751.5 accumulated points. The puts WPI behind five-time defending chance MIT (1,085.5), but in strong position to hold their current team position over its closest competitors – third-place Coast Guard (638.5), Springfield (610) and Wheaton (569.5). 

Andrew Bauer (Cumberland, RI), Erick Burgwardt (Mendon, NY), and Alex Powers (Glocester, RI) all took second in solo events and were part of a second-place 200 medley relay team that also featured Tim Petri (Eksjo, Sweden) as their time of 1:32.56 made them one of six to break WPI school records. 

Bauer also claimed second in the 200 free final, setting the school mark as he touched the wall in 1:41.67, just ahead of third-place teammate Nathan Hughes (Arlington, VA) at 1:42.06. 

The Engineers had another 2-3 finish in the 100 fly as the freshman Burgwardt (51.24) edged classmate Seth MacDonald (Sherrill, NY) (51.26) by .02 seconds. 

Powers made it four second-place finishers for WPI as he led four Engineers scorers in the 100 back, coming in at 51.02 to hit the NCAA-B cut. Power swam the school's fastest 50 back time within that final, doing his first lap in 24.43. 

Phineas O'Brien-Milne (Gettysburg, PA) was also in the championship heat, grabbing eighth place (53.28). Burgwardt (53.43) won the consolation final and Matt Houghton (Berkley, MA) (54.90) was fourth as WPI piled up 61 points 

Petri was another NCAA-B cut qualifier, hitting his mark in the 100 breast, finishing in third in 57.37 and a new WPI best at the 50- and 100-yard lengths. 

Andrew Kelleher (Poughquag, NY) took fifth with a time of 58.76, giving the Engineers two of the top five. 

Junior Adam McNally (Leominster, MA) who was seeded fourth in the 400 IM, but exceeded that to come in second (4:07.50), hitting the NCAA-B cut standard and busting through the former WPI record. 

Freshman Matt Suarez (Needham, MA) represented WPI in the 1-meter dive, taking eighth place with a total of 345.25 for a WPI best, while Nick Houghton (Berkley, MA) also reached the 400 IM championship heat and set a school standard with his 10th-place time of 4:16.07.

The fourth and final day will see champions crowned in the 1,650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, 400-yard freestyle relay and the women's 3-meter dive. Trials get underway at 10am and the finals will commence at 6pm.

Release by Carl Setterlund - WPI Athletics Intern - Emerson '14