TROY, NY (November 11, 2017) – The Vassar College men's swimming and diving team traveled north to battle Liberty League foe Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Saturday afternoon, falling to the No. 28 Engineers 185-70 in action from Robison Pool.

Vassar started the afternoon with the 200 medley relay, staying with the top group of RPI before taking second with a time of 1:40.44 thanks to the group of Max White (26.44), Jonah Strand (27.12), Harrison Taylor (24.89) and Matthew Imiolek (21.99). In the 200 freestyle, Taylor took third-place with a 1:57.24, while freshman Finn Belanger posted a 2:05.10.

In the 100 backstroke, freshman Max White swam a 57.85 for third place, while freshman Rowan McDowell posted a 1:01.72. The most excited race for the Brewers came in the 100 breaststroke, as senior Jonah Strand rallied to pull ahead of Cory Madalena in the final 50 yards and out-touched the RPI swimmer with a 1:00.78.

The 100 freestyle saw White post a season-best time of 50.62 while taking second place, with Imiolek earning three points with a 53.36 and freshman Parker Bartz swimming a season-best 53.89. The 200 backstroke had McDowell pick up four points with a 2:15.88, followed by another win by Jonah Strand in the 200 breaststroke. Strand swam a 2:11.56 for nine points, followed by a third-place finish in the 500 free by Belanger after his 5:49.24.

Taylor bounced back well from his 200 freestyle swim in the 100 butterfly with a runner-up swim, nearly posting a season-best time with a 56.84. In the 1-meter diving event, senior Connor Martin chalked up 165.50 points to take three points for the Brewers.

In the 400 yard IM, White was back in the pool to take second-place with a season-best 4:24.81, while VC finished second in the 400 free relay with a 3:31.32 thanks to Imiolek, Belanger, Taylor and Strand. Vassar will now focus on its next dual meet against New Paltz on Friday in Kresge Pool at 6 p.m.

"We knew RPI would be a challenge for us today with their consistent strengths and depth but we also had many races where we could see solid progress and have a much better idea of what we need to accomplish still in the training pool," said head coach Lisl Prater-Lee. "We're looking forward to getting everything we can out of the first four days of next week so we can see it put together Friday night for our dual meet with New Paltz."