As we conclude the 2024 summer in the coming weeks, we are looking back at the best moments from the 2023-2024 academic year, today we look back at the WPI men's swimming & diving program that pushed on the final day of the 2024 NEWMAC Championships for a third-place team finish on February 25th, 2024. 

Cambridge, MA - The final day of competition for the WPI men's swimming and diving squad at the NEWMAC Championships at the Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center was highlighted by a 400 Free Relay third place performance to close out the weekend on Sunday evening. 

The Engineers took home third place at the Championships after four days of competition finishing with 825 points. MIT earned the Conference title with 1483.5 while Coast Guard took second with 896 points.

The foursome of Sean Tesoro (Reading, MA), Matt Crane (Groton, MA), Nolan Schlessman (Sudbury, MA) and Jack Brazer (Bolton, MA) rounded out the event with a third place finish in the relay, touching the wall in 3:03.69, the Engineers' fastest time since the 2018 NEWMAC Championships. 

The final day of finals kicked off with the mile as Samuel Witscher (Portland, OR) and Aidan Greenfield (Northport, NY) went 8-9 in the event with times of 16:38.12 and 16:51.22 respectively. They were joined as pointgetters by Daniel Cory (Reading, MA) who took 12th with a time of 17:17.43 and Eli Budde (Eldersburg, MD) who finished 14th for the Engineers with a time of 17:28.93. Witscher and Cory earned career best times in the event. 
 
Christopher Smith (Northbridge, MA) finished the 200 Back A Final in seventh place with a career time of 1:53.00 as Aaron Swann (Venice, FL), Andrew Van De Water (Stratham, NH) and Jake Thomas (Wenham, MA) finished 13th, 14th and 17th. Swann took third in the B Final with a time of 1:59.70, Van De Water finished in 2:00.55 and Thomas touched the wall in 2:02.67, as the trio also set career best times. 

The 100 Free saw Tesoro take 10th place in a career best time of 46.24 while Brazer finished in 13th in a career high 46.79, Crane earned 16th in 47.17 and Dean Doubek (Arnold, MD) rounded out the pack with a time of 48.08. 

The 200 Breast saw Austin Aguirre (Santa Maria, CA) bring home eighth place with a career time of 2:06.29 in the A Final. Fraser Milligan (Middlebury, VT) capped his strong performance at the meet with a second place B Final finish touching the wall in a career best 2:08.29 for 12th overall. Owen Krause (Potomac Falls, VA) brought home an 18th place finish in 2:12.46. 

The individual competition wrapped up with the 200 Fly which featured five different Engineers. Nikita Zuev (Wallingford, CT) led the pack with a career best 1:56.86 for a seventh place finish. Lucas Pralle (Wayland, MA) earned the B Final victory with a time of 1:59.20 as Brian Hall (Westford, MA) took home 13th in 2:02.07, Matthew Segui (Stanton, CA) earned 16th in 2:03.01 and Bora Hurst (Mukwonago, WI) finished 19th in 2:05.07. 

Final Results
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1483.5   
2. U.S. Coast Guard Academy          896
3. Worcester Polytechnic Institute   825   
4. Babson College                  740.5
5. Wheaton College (Ma)              532   
6. Springfield College               519
7. Clark University                  221
   
Up Next 
NCAA swimming selections will be announced early next week and the Engineers will await the announcement.