Bristol, RI --- The WPI men's swimming and diving kicked off the Menck Invite with a strong performance in the preliminary session. Split over two days, with the first session held at Roger Williams, the Menck Invite is named in honor of Robert Menck, a USA and Collegiate Swim Official who work with WPI for numerous years.
 
The first session was sprint heavy with only the 50s and 100s of each stroke contested, the only exceptions being the 100 IM and 200 free and three relays.
 
Like the women's team, the men's team showed off their depth in the relays advancing all of their relays into tomorrow's final. In the 400 free relay, the team of Dean Doubek (Arnold, MD), Jack Brazer (Petersborough, NH), Nolan Schlessman (Sudbury, MA) and Sean Tesoro (Reading, MA) finished 2nd overall in a time of 3:15.02, just .51 ahead of their B relay teammates, who secured the 3rd seed in the final tomorrow.
 
In the 200 free relay, WPI improved one spot to claim the top seed in the final. Joining the trio of sophomores Doubek, Schlessman and Tesoro, Andrew Van De Water (Stratham, NH) helped led the Engineers to a 1:28.89 win. WPI's depth was on full force in this relay as they advanced 8 of the 10 teams into the final.
 
WPI's wins were not contained to relays though. Tesoro claimed two top seeds in finals. In the 100 free, the Mass native was just one of two swimmers to break the 50.00 barrier as he stopped the clock in a winning time of 49.27. A little later in the session, he also claimed victory in the 50 free, hitting the wall in 22.43. Tesoro will face some stiff competition as he and his teammates make up 8 of the 10 finalists in the event.
 
Also claiming multiple, top seeds was Christopher Smith (Northbridge, MA). The junior claimed top honors in the 50 fly, hitting the wall in 23.50 with a margin of .35.  In the 100 fly, his 52.61 was the only time under 54.00 and in the 200 free his 1:49.57, was the only mark under 1:50.
 
WPI also showed off some of their depth in the individual events, in addition the aforementioned 50 free, the final of the 100 IM will see 8 swimmers represent the crimson and grey, with Schlessman leading the charge as the #2 seed with a time of 56.37.
 
Action for tomorrow's final session kicks off at 1pm. WPI will be recognizing their senior class before the meet starts. All friends, family and fans are invited to attend the meet.
 
Results