Courtesy: WPI Athletics
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — Junior Dave Chen (Niantic, CT) won three individual events and the 400-yard freestyle relay did its job as the WPI men’s swimming & diving team swept host Wesleyan, No. 11 Tufts and No. 18 Williams Saturday. The Engineers are receiving votes in the national coaches poll.
WPI’s foursome of senior Jean Philippe Miralda (Tegucigalpa, Honduras), freshman Sid Williams (Irvine, CA), graduate student Craig Barrett (Edinburgh, Scotland) and senior Jack Bauer (Cumberland, RI) was second overall, but more importantly a second quicker (3:08.79-3:09.83) than Williams in the relay to secure the 151-150 triumph. The Boynton Hillers also outscored Tufts 157-148 and the Cardinals 245-69. The Ephs picked up wins over Wesleyan 236-64 and Tufts 170.50-121.50 while the Jumbos defeated the Cardinals 243-62.
Chen swept the breaststrokes with a 26.45 in the 50, a 57.63 in the 100 and a 2:08.89 in the 200. Bauer took a pair of events as well with a 23.81 in the 50-yard backstroke and a 50.71 in the 100-yard backstroke. A trio of Engineers touched the wall first in the butterfly events as sophomore Clayton Besch (West Sand Lake, NY) won the 50 (22.50), senior Jackson Perry (Cumberland, RI) took the 100 (50.99) and sophomore Matt Shriner (Arlington, MA) claimed the 200 (1:54.00).
Junior Chris Nelson (Millbury, MA) was the runner up on the 3-meter board and third on the 1-meter for the Engineers. Junior Markus Zimmermann (Sammamish, WA) added a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (4:46.24), as did Miralda in the 50-yard (21.81) and 100-yard (47.63) freestyles. Miralda was also fifth in the 200-yard version of the event (1:46.89).
Senior Alex Gallant (Lakeville, MA) chipped in with a fourth-place 4:16.78 in the 400-yard IM and sophomore Aaron McCutcheon (Smithfield, RI) came home sixth (1:58.20) in the 200-yard back.
WPI will head to No. 19 Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday, January 12 for a 1pm dual. Wesleyan and Williams host Hamilton and Amherst, respectively, on January 5, and Tufts travels to Wheaton on January 19.