The 200-yard medley relay team struck gold and each member of the squad registered at least one more victory on the night as the WPI men’s swimming and diving team swept host UMass Dartmouth, 154-63, and conference foe Wheaton, 144-87, to tie the program record for dual meet wins in a single-season on Wednesday night.
The 2014-15 version of the Engineers (9-0) are currently tied with the 1977-78 (9-5), 1978-79 (9-5), 1984-85 (9-4), 1990-91 (9-5), 2005-06 (9-1), and 2012-13 (9-3) teams. Three of the seven seasons have occurred under the guidance of Head Coach Paul Bennett, which is also a program record.
Alex Powers (Glocester, RI), Tim Petri (Eksjo, Sweden), Karim Elsayed (Cairo, Egypt) and Ben List (Bedford, MA) captured the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:39.70. Powers went on to win the 100-yard backstroke (55.10) and 200-yard IM (2:02.48) as Petri was the quickest in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:01.65). Elsayed took the 100-yard butterfly and List added a win in the 50-yard freestyle (22.35).
Matt Suarez (Needham, MA), the reigning NEWMAC and ECAC Division III New England Diver of the Week, swept both events with a 196.30 on the 1-meter board and a 218.45 on the 3-meter board. Andrew Bauer (Cumberland, RI), the NEWMAC Swimmer of the Week and ECAC Division III New England Co-Swimmer of the Week, reached the wall first in the 100-yard freestyle (48.71) while Nathan Hughes (Arlington, VA) earned a victory in the 200-yard freestyle (1:48.19).
Nick Houghton (Berkley, MA) secured the 500-yard freestyle (5:04.51) and registered a second-place time of 10:32.61 in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Bauer, Jonathan Decelle (Rumson, NJ), Hughes and Andrew Kelleher (Poughquag, NY) teamed up to post the best time in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:22.51).
The Engineers close out the dual meet season next Wednesday with a 6:30pm home meet versus Clark.
Emily Martin (Penfield, NY), Jenny Day (Chelmsford, MA) and Veronica Nikolaki (Athens, Greece) were individual double winners as the WPI women’s swimming and diving team won 11 of 13 events en route to a convincing sweep of UMass Dartmouth, 166-64, and Wheaton, 144-91, on Wednesday night.
The Engineers eight wins (8-2) trails only the 1992-93 (9-5) and 2012-13 (9-3) teams for the most wins in a single season.
Martin registered a 25.58 in the 50-yard freestyle and a 55.00 in the 100-yard freestyle while Day clocked a 2:18.56 in the 200-yard IM and a 5:29.04 in the 500-yard freestyle. Nikolaki delivered a 247.30 on the 1-meter board and a 230.15 on the 3-meter board. Martin joined with Eva Childers (Henniker, NH), Day and Emily Matsco (Windham, NH) for a second-place time in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:50.28). Childers picked up a victory in the 200-yard freestyle (2:01.60) and Matsco logged an 11:11.80 to take the 1,000-yard freestyle.
Nysa Casha (Andover, MA) and Zoe Eggleston (Newtown, CT) sprinted to triumphs in the 100-yard butterfly (1:01.47) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:11.77), respectively, after teaming with Julia Bushell (Windham, NH) and Tori Claverie (Derry, NH) to open the night with a 1:55 to take the 200-yard medley relay. Bushell added a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke (1:04.52).
WPI closes out its dual meet slate at home versus Clark at 6:30pm on Wednesday.
