POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 30, 2015) - It came down to the final race of the evening, as SUNY-New Paltz held off the Vassar men's swimming team 149-132 Friday night in a dual meet at Kresge Pool. The 'C' relay for the Hawks in the 400 yard freestyle relay came through with the 11-point win (3:22.77), after Vassar trailed just four points, 134-130, heading into the event.

The Brewers still turned in plenty of big performances, as the team secured nine total event victories, including three apiece for sophomore Jonah Strand and junior Anthony Walker.

Strand started off his evening with a win in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.10), finishing less than a second off of his career best. (1:00.33.) Strand also won the 200 breast in 2:15.60, outpacing the field by almost 10 seconds. He picked up his third first place finish in the 400 IM with a mark of 4:34.69.

Walker notched his first win in the 200 butterfly, touching the wall first in 1:59.53. Walker also claimed first in the 100 fly (53.45), finishing  over three seconds faster than the second place finisher. He sealed his final win on the night with a time of 50.93 in the 100 yard freestyle.

Junior Chris Cerutti was victorious in the 200 yard backstroke, notching a time of 2:06.71 to score nine points for the Brewers. Freshman Michael Colletta came from behind to steal second (2:12.60) in event, out-touching the top New Paltz finisher in eight hundredths of a second. Cerutti picked up a second place finish in the 100 back (59.22), while Coletta took fifth (1:00.15).

Freshman Alex May was a close second in the 1000 free, finishing in 10:42.83 just two seconds behind the leader. Fellow freshman Ian LaBash also took home a second place finish in the 200 free (1:54.31). Senior Greg Cristina notched second in the 50 free finishing in 22.85.

In the diving well, junior Clancy Green posted top marks for the Brewers in both the 3-meter, 6 dive (133.51) and 1-meter, 6 dive (147.75) events.

In relay action, Cerutti, Strand, Walker and Cristina teamed up to go 1:41.01 in the 200 medley relay, a second faster than the quartet's top time this season. Cristina, LaBash, Cerutti and Colletta were the top VC team in the 400 free relay, finishing in 3:29.17.

The Vassar swimming and diving programs will return to meet action next Saturday, November 7 for a dual meet at Skidmore College.