Skip To Main Content

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF WPI ATHLETICS
WPI ATHLETICS

schedule

Senior Day-WPI Swimming & Diving-2025-2026

Men’s Swimming and Diving Honors its Senior Class on Day Two of Menck Invitational

Senior Day - WPI Swimming & Diving
WORCESTER -- The conclusion to the two-day Menck Sprints saw WPI play hosts to Roger Williams (who hosted the first session the day before) as well as Amherst, which dove into the fray for the second day of action. 

Prior to the meet start, WPI honored the senior class of Roger Williams and Amherst before turning their attention to their own seniors as Gavin McCullough (Colorado Springs, CO), Devin Mihaichuk (Noblesville, IN), Christopher Smith (Northbridge, MA), Kacey Tarbrake (Beltsville, MD), Sam Witscher (Portland, OR), and Nikita Zuev (Wallingford, CT) were all honored for their contributions to the team and its culture.  
 
Much like on the women's side, the six seniors swam the 100 relays together as Smith, Witscher, Mihaichuk, and Tarbrake finished eighth overall in the 100 medley relay with a time of 47.46. Smith and Witscher were joined on the front end of the 100 free relay by McCullough and Zuev, with the quartet finishing 5th overall in a time of 40.56, albeit the slowest class in the WPI class relays. That said, the group had very strong showings elsewhere as Smith placed 5th overall in the 100 breaststroke final in a time of 59.91, just behind first-year Luke Vipond(Mahtomedi, MN) whose fourth place time of 59.22 stands as a new personal best. Smith was also the school's second fastest swimmer in the 50 back and 50 fly, the latter of which was won by WPI junior Dean Doubek(Arnold, MD) in 22.63. Smith was not to be denied a victory in his final regular-season contest at home, as he posted the lone sub-2:00 time in the 200 IM, claiming the win in 1:55.24.  
 
McCullough was the school's highest ranked finisher in the 200 free, with the senior touching in 6th at 1:49.46, but it was fellow senior Witscher and his 1:49.27 (a college-best) out of the B-final which earned top honors. The pair clashed previously in the 500 free, with Witscher's season best of 4:52.75 taking 3rd place and McCullough's 4:57.85 earning 5th place behind first-year Kuba Latawiec (Newington, CT) and his winning time of 4:46.49. While both of Witscher's times were season bests, Zuev set a new personal best in the 1000 free. The Connecticut native sliced nearly seven seconds off his best from a fortnight ago to win the event in 10:10.65.  
 
WPI matched its performances in the distance events with some top honors in the shorter events as Doubek claimed the win in the 25 fly (10.41) in addition to winning the 25 free and 25 back. The junior was the lone swimmer under the vaunted 10-second barrier in the 25 free as he struck the wall in 9.87, whereas in the 25 back, his 11.92 was the only sub-12-second time. Doubek did not contest the 25 breaststroke, but the top of the proverbial podium was still occupied by an Engineer as first-year Kyle Sundberg (East Northport, NY) claimed the win in 12.49. 
 
Doubeck and Sundberg teamed up for both the 100 and 200 medley relays, each time finishing second overall, behind Amherst's A-relay. The duo did square off in the aforementioned 100 free class relays, where the Juniors, thanks to a lead off by Doubek claimed the school bragging rights by .18, ahead of the sophomore class. The first year, which was anchored by Sundberg, were a little more than a second off their teammates' times of 38.87 and 39.05.  
 
Action was not contained to the pool however, as divers Tom Fitzgerald (East Longmeadow, MA) and Aaron Lakin (Hamden, CT) put on exemplary performances. Fitzgerald, a sophomore by eligibility, was honored along with the seniors as the student-athlete is planning on graduating this spring. Fitzgerald claimed top honors in both the 1 and 3 meter boards, earning 398.31 and 412.05 points, respectively, over 11 dives. Lakin set new personal bests over 11 dives on both boards earning 325.35 and 327.15 respectively. 
 
WPI concludes its 2025-2026 season over the course of the next month as its swimmers will look to end their season at either the GNAC Championships, set to be held the 6th-8th of February or at the NEWMAC Championships, which will be hosted by MIT from the 19th to 22nd of February.  
 
Swimming Results
 Diving Results
 
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Now Playing:

Related Stories