Session 1 Results

ROCHESTER, NY (December 4, 2009) – Following the first session at the Liberty League Championships on Friday at the University of Rochester, the Vassar College men's swimming and diving team stands in fifth place out seven teams but had some impressive showings in the pool and on the diving board.

In a tightly contested battle for the top three spots, host Rochester is in first place with 251 points, followed by RPI in second with 247, and Union in third with 220. St. Lawrence is fourth with 127, Vassar fifth with 118, and Clarkson close behind in sixth with 113, and Skidmore seventh with 79. There are two sessions scheduled for Saturday. The first session begins at 9 am, the final session at 4 pm.

Although the Brewers finished the swimming portion of the day just five points behind Clarkson, the Brewers got crucial points from sophomore Greg Sullivan, who placed second in the 3-meter event with a score of 421.50 to move Vassar into fifth place heading into Saturday. The score set a new school record, far surpassing his old record of 377.88, set as a freshman at the Liberty League Championships.

“Although we're in fifth right now, we're looking forward to tomorrow which features more stroke events, our strengths,” said interim head coach Paul Kueterman. “Against top-tier Liberty League competition, we really competed well today and the work that we began at the end of September is paying off.”

The Brewers started the session off strong with a fourth place finish in the 200 Free Relay. The team of freshman Mathue Duhaney, sophomore Dustin Molina, sophomore Jack Smart, and senior Jeremy Shiman finished in 1:30.34, not far off the school record of 1:29.05, set last season.

“Jeremy had an incredible swim in that relay and it was a great start for us,” said Kueterman.

Smart had Vassar's top individual finish of the evening, placing fourth in the 200 IM in 2:01.78, significantly faster than his 2:04.04 seeding time. Duhaney followed that with an impressive fifth place in the 50 Free, finishing in 22.42, just out-touched by the fourth place finisher, Wesley Hood, from Rochester who finished in 22.41.

“To get a top five finish in his first Liberty Leagues, especially coming off the 200 Relay, was great for Mathue,” said Kueterman.