WORCESTER -- The WPI men's swimming and diving team hosted its first meet of the season in a double duel against Ithaca and Roger Williams on Sunday afternoon. The Engineers were victorious against RWU, beating them 175.50-112.50, but fell to Ithaca in a very close contest 148.50-145.50.
The Crimson and Gray started the meet off with a strong 3-5 finish in the 400 Medley Relay, with the squad of
Christopher Smith (Northbridge, MA),
Jack Duryea (Sag Harbor, NY),
Lucas Pralle (Wayland, MA), and
Andrew Van De Water (Stratham, NH) combining for a time of 3:35.28.
Smith built upon his run of success as he finished either first or second in his individual events. He claimed top honors in the 200 back, posting a time of 1:57.37, the only swimmer to break the 2:00.00 barrier. In the 100 backstroke, Smith placed second overall in a time of 53.82, while he equaled that finish in 200 IM, in a time of 1:59.64.
Joining him in the backstroke events were
Jacob Antonovich (Fairfax, VT), who placed 4th in the 200 back and 6th in the 100 back.
The Engineers also found great success in the freestyle events as
Sean Tesoro (Reading, MA) and
Nolan Schlessman (Sudbury, MA) went 2-3 in the 200 free, posting times of 1:46.17 and 1:47.16, respectively. In the 50 free, Tesoro repeated his runner-up finish, posting the second fastest time of the morning as he finished in a time of 21.58, just 0.01 ahead of teammate
Dean Doubek (Arnold, MD) who finished in third.
The pair each improved one spot in the 100 free, just two events later as Tesoro posted the fastest time of the afternoon, hitting the wall in 47.13 with Doubek taking second in a time of 47.66.
The trio of freestylers, along with Van de Water capped the meet off with a win in the 200 Free Relay as they four sophomores posted a time of 1:26.18, edging out Roger Williams by 0.11.
Doubek, did not contain his results to the freestyle however, as he nabbed his third top three finish of the day, taking 2nd place in 100 fly in a time of 52.72. Fellow sophomore, Pralle finished just behind in third place in the 100 fly, posting a time of 53.25, equaling his position from the 200 fly earlier in the meet, where he was the top placed WPI swimmer.
On the boards, first year
Tom Fitzgerald (East Longmeadow, MA) posted a pair of top two finishes as he scored 181.72 on the 1-meter, and 175.42 on the 3-meter. Teammate
Val Corrente (East Setauket, NY) was right behind scoring 181.72 and 166.12 points respectively, which was good for third place in each.
Aidan Greenfield (Northport, NY) matched many of his teammates with multiple top three finishes as took second in the 500 free, 4:55.63, and third in the 1000, 10:22.59.
WPI is next in action in a home meet against Babson, Brandeis and Coast Guard on Friday at 5:30pm.
Full Results
Team Scores
