Friday Final Results

Friday Prelim Results

SYRACUSE, NY (February 26, 2010) – Following a breakout day which saw three school records broken, the Vassar College men's swimming and diving team stands in ninth out of 16 teams after the first day of competition at the Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association (UNYSCSA) Championships on Friday. The championships are hosted by Le Moyne College at Nottingham High School.

The Brewers have finished 10th or higher for the last six years, placing ninth in 2002-03 and a program-best eighth in 2001-02.

“To be in ninth right now is incredible,” said interim head coach Paul Kueterman. “I couldn't ask for a better day and it just shows that the hard work they've put in all season is really paying off. It was a collective effort today, and though the teamwork has been tremendous throughout the season, it's great to see them continue to come together so well when it matters most.”

In just the first day of the three-day event, three school records were broken, the 200 IM, 100 Back, and 200 Free Relay.

Sophomore Jack Smart set a new record in the 200 IM, placing fifth with a time of 1:56.70 to break the old record of 1:57.97, set last season by graduated senior John Alaimo.

“That was the race of his life,” said Kueterman. “He swam well in the preliminaries, placing seventh, but then came out and went even faster in the finals, taking two seconds off his time, to set the new record and move up to fifth.”

In the morning preliminaries session, the 200 Free Relay team of Smart, freshman Mathue Duhaney, sophomore Dustin Molina and senior Jeremy Shiman set a new record with a time of 1:27.42 to break the record of 1:29.05 set by Molina, Smart, Shiman, and Alaimo last season. Although they swam slightly slower in the evening session, the time of 1:28.47 still would have been a new school record, and landed the Brewers with a tenth place finish.

Also in the preliminaries, Shiman set a new record in the 100 Back as he led off the 400 Medley Relay team with a split of 54.43, breaking the seven-year-old mark of 54.86, set by Drew Duncan.

“Breaking three records on the first day is such an incredible way to start the weekend,” said Kueterman, adding “To do so well on day one and then go into day two which has more events that we're strong in is exciting. We have people like Nicholas [Veazie] and Jeremy [Shiman] who haven't even swum their strongest events and the 800 Free and 200 Medley relays will be big for us as well.”

Sophomore diver Greg Sullivan brought the Brewers big points with a fifth place finish in the 1-meter, with a score of 418.75.

“Greg dove really well and that top-five finish is big for us,” said Kueterman. “We're really excited to see what he can do in the 3-meter on Sunday.”

Following a strong showing in the preliminaries, the 400 Medley Relay team of Shiman, Smart, freshman Nicholas Veazie, and Molina dropped its time in the finals, finishing tenth and narrowly missing a new school record with a time of 3:38.23, just .21 seconds off the Vassar record.

In his first collegiate state meet, Duhaney recorded a top-20 finish in the finals, placing 18th in the 50 Free with a time of 22.17.

Although he did not make the finals, freshman Simon Whitelaw dropped 17 seconds from his previous personal best in the 500 Free, with a time of 5:01.75.