New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) men's head swimming and diving coach Michael Lawson announced Friday, August 29 the Highlander's 2014-15 season schedule, which features three regular season meets at the Fleisher Athletic Center on NJIT's campus.
“This season, for the first time we will be facing other Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) teams in our regular season,” Lawson said. “This has allowed us to set up a schedule that will challenge the team throughout the year and best prepare us for our championship season.”
The Highlander's will open the Fall season with the second annual Red vs. White Alumni Meet on Oct. 4. Following that on October 18-19, NJIT will kick off their competitive season on the road at the University of Maryland Baltimore County for a two-day invitational style meet with CCSA members UMBC, Gardner-Webb University, and Virginia Military Institute (VMI). This will be the first time in program history that the team will face UMBC and Gardner-Webb in the regular season and is the first time since 2009 the team has taken on VMI.
NJIT's divers will attend the Blue Devil Diving Invitational on October 25 hosted by Central Connecticut State University. The team will then return home to welcome MAAC foe Manhattan College and Northeast rival St. Francis (Brooklyn) on November 1 for the first dual meet competitions of the year at Fleisher on the NJIT campus.
Along with Manhattan College, NJIT will take on two additional MAAC opponents. The NJIT men will make a trip across Newark Bay to Jersey City on November 7, traveling to MAAC rival St. Peter's University. Before Thanksgiving Break the team will travel north to Rhode Island on November 16 to face Bryant University. At the beginning of December, the squad will compete at the ECAC Pre-Season Championships held in New York. The team will wrap up the semester on the road on December 13 at nearby Montclair State University.
The team will travel to the Florida Keys for winter training from January 7 to 13. Upon arrival back in New Jersey, the team will host Patriot League rival Lehigh University to open their 2015 Winter schedule.
The third MAAC team on the Highlander's schedule this season will be Fairfield University when the team travels to Connecticut on January 24. The regular season will conclude with Senior Day at Fleisher as the Highlanders play host to CCSA rival Howard University for the first time in program history and Manhattan College.
The 2015 CCSA Swimming and Diving Championships will return to the University of Georgia in Athens, GA, on February 18-21. The program’s divers will vie for a trip to the NCAA Championships at the NCAA Zones Diving Championships in early March.
NJIT will aim to have representation at the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history this upcoming season with many of the team's rising juniors posting times in range last season. The men’s NCAA Championship meet is slated for March 26-28 at the University of Iowa’s Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.
The Highlander men look to build on their past successes with a challenging schedule and a chance to make program history once again. The team's full schedule can be found at: http://njithighlanders.com/schedule.aspx?path=mswim&
For updates and to follow the Highlander Men's Swimming & Diving team, please visit www.njithighlanders.com, like the team on Facebook, www.facebook.com/njitswimming, or follow the team on Twitter, @njitswimanddive.
