The WPI men’s swimming and diving team set the record for dual meet victories in a season and posted the program’s first undefeated season since its debut in 1927-28 with a 135-82 triumph over vising Clark at the Sports & Recreation Center Pool on Thursday night.
The Crimson and Gray (10-0) now boast a 16-0 record at home since moving into the Sports & Recreation Center. In addition to dual meet success, WPI is 2-for-2 at its own Gompei Invitational and has won both Worcester City Championships (2013, 2014) held in the facility.
Matt Houghton (Berkley, MA) led the Engineers with a pair of individual wins and a relay triumph. He touched the wall first in the 200-fly (2:03.05) and 200-yard backstroke (2:01.06). He was joined by Tim Petri (Eksjo, Sweden), Frederick Burgwardt (Mendon, NY) and Ben List (Bedford, MA) with a winning time of 3:14.36 in the 400-yard medley relay. Petri posted the quickest time in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:18.50) while Burgwardt claimed the 100-yard freestyle (49.68) and List delivered in the 50-yard freestyle (22:19).
List, Karim Elsayed (Cairo, Egypt), Jonathan Decelle (Rumson, NJ) and Andrew Kelleher (Poughquag, NY) logged the quickest time in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:28.85) as the Clark quartet of Lukas Leung (Germantown, TN), Jack Hall (McLean, VA), Eddie McCluskey (Hope, ME) and Vlad Kiveliyk (Southington, CT) secured first place points with a 1:35.68. Decelle also saw success in the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.71).
Also striking gold for the Engineers were James Macfarlane (Ijamsville, MD) in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:29.72), Adam McNally (Leominster, MA) in the 200-yard IM (2:01.38), and Nick Houghton (Berkley, MA) in the 500-yard freestyle (4:57.00).
On the diving board, Clark’s Steven Castiglione (North Haven, CT) collected first place points in both events with a 179.70 on the 3-meter and a 186.14 on the 1-meter. WPI’s Matt Suarez (Needham, MA), however, had the best scores with a 217.87 and 230.17, respectively.
Nick Houghton, List and McNally along with fellow seniors Blake Cornachini (Branford, CT), Keith Gagnon (West Hartford, CT), Keahi Goodale (Kailua-Kona, HI), Tom Graf (Pittsburgh, PA), Timothy Love (Guilderland, NY), Eric Schattschneider (Mount Kisco, NY), Adam Trumbley (Prospect, CT) and Joe Weiler (Ballston Lake, NY) were honored during the meet for their contributions to the WPI Swimming and Diving program.
WPI heads to Norton, MA for the two-day Wheaton Invitational on February 6 and 7.
The WPI women's swimming and diving team tied the program record with its ninth dual meet victory of the season with a 132-99 triumph over Clark on Thursday night at the Sports & Recreation Center.
With the triumph, the Engineers (9-2) tie the program record for dual meet wins in a single season joining the 1992-93 (9-5) and 2012-13 (9-3) teams. It is also the program’s best winning percentage in a single season.
Julia Bushell (Windham, NH), Nysa Casha (Andover, MA), Emily Martin (Penfield, NY) and Eva Childers (Henniker, NH) combined to win the 400-yard medley relay (4:10.78) while Martin, Emily Matsco (Windham, NH), Jenny Day (Chelmsford, MA) and Casha turned in the best time in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:44.39). Casha also turned in a 2:35.10 to win the 200-yard breaststroke and Martin was victorious in the 200-yard IM (2:13.74).
Childers paced the Engineers with a 5:30.22 to win the 500-yard freestyle led a trio of Engineers in the 50-yard freestyle with a 26.21. Sierra Fowler (Bensalem, PA) followed in second (26.61) and Tori Claverie (Derry, NH) was third (26.93). Matsco chipped in with a 55.51 to touch the wall first in the 100-yard freestyle (55.51) as Day collected a win in the 200-yard butterfly (2:15.19). Veronica Nikolaki (Athens, Greece) boasted a 256.64 to take the 3-meter dive.
Melissa Orzechowski (Windsor, CT) led Clark with a win in the 200-yard backstroke (2:16.74) and 200-yard freestyle (1:59.09). Breanna Tucker (Temecula, CA) took the 1-meter dive (235.65) and Lydia Barry (Kennebunk, ME) claimed the 1,000-yard freestyle (11:21.06) for the Cougars.
Casha and Aimee St. Germain (Manchester, NH) were honored during a “Senior Day” ceremony toward the end of the meet for their contributions to the WPI swimming and diving program.
Women’s Swimming and Diving heads to the two-day Wheaton Invitational on February 6 and 7.
