WORCESTER -- After a strong showing at the first day of the Menck Invite, the Engineers returned home for the second day and picked up where things left off. Named after a long-time swim official who worked with the WPI team and within USA swimming for years, the Menck Invite is a Trials/Finals meet spread over two days and held at two different pools. The first day was held yesterday at Roger Williams' Pool with the final session being held in Worcester. 
 
Contesting the finals of yesterday's events as well as the timed finals of the 200 of stroke, the 200/400 IM, the 500/1000 free and the even splashier and dashier 50s of stroke, the 2nd day of the meet kicked off with the team recognizing their Seniors, for their contributions over the past 4 (and in one case 5) years. 
 
Senior Eli Budde (Sykesville, MD) was the team's top finisher in the 100 breaststroke, as he sliced over 1.5 seconds off his time from yesterday to jump up from 5th into 2nd place. Budde also placed 2nd in the 200 breaststroke, improving upon his seed timed by 1.4 seconds, stopping the clock in 2:14.22. 
 
Fellow senior Aidan Greenfield (Northport, NY) jumped up 5 places in the 100 fly as he went from a seed time of 1:01.06 to a finals result of 54.00, which was good for 3rd and just .01 behind 2nd. Taking first in the 100 fly was junior Christopher Smith (Northbridge, MA) who nearly broke the 50 second barrier with his result of 50.22. Smith saw the top of the podium quite often, as he won the 25 fly (10.52), the 50 fly (23.61) and the 200 free (1:48.02). His only loss on the day was actually in his first event, as fellow junior Nikita Zuev (Wallingford, CT) took control of the 500 after the first 100 and hit the wall in 4:57.22 to Smith's 5:01.79.
 
WPI nearly swept the 25s as sophomore's Nolan Schlessman (Sudbury, MA) and Dean Doubek (Arnold, MD) claimed victory in the 25 breast (12.24) and 25 free (10.08). Doubek was also close in the 25 back as his 12.13 was good for 2nd place and was just .18 out of 1st. 
 
In addition to his win in the 25 breast, Schlessman added a 4th place finish in the 25 free and a 3rd place in the 100 IM. The 100 IM was a strong race for the Engineers as yesterday they placed 8 into the 10-person final. Pressing Schlessman in the race were a trio of seniors, as Greenfield, Fraser Milligan (Middlebury, VT) and Bora Hurst (West Palm Beach, FL) were close behind finishing in 4th, 5th and 6th respectively. 
 
Success was not limited to individual events however as the team of Doubek, Schlessman, Smith and Sean Tesoro (Reading, MA) claimed victory in the 100 Medley Relay, out-touching Roger Williams, 43.50 to 43.72. The 100 Free Relay saw the Engineers go 2-3-4 as the all senior relay of Greenfield, Milligan, Jack Duryea (Sag Harbor, NY) and Jack Brazer (Petersborough, NH) placed 4th in a time of 40.47, less than a second out of first place. 
 
On the diving boards, senior Val Corrente (East Setauket, NY) claimed a pair of top 2 finishes. In the 1m, Corrente scored just 12 points less than teammate Tom Fitzgerald (East Longmeadow, MA), 425.47 to 437.93. On the 3m, however, Corrente's 422.69 easily outpaced Fitzgerald's 349.58. 
 
With the conclusion of the Invite, the Engineers have ended their regular season slate of meets. WPI is back next in action with a select team competing at the GNAC Championships on the 7th-9th of February, while those named to the Conference roster will next race as WPI host the NEWMAC Championships from the 20th-23rd of February.  
 
Results