Vassar Swimming & Diving Bests Brandeis in Opener

By Amie Canfield

POUGHKEEPSIE – It was the season opener for the Vassar women’s and men’s swimming & diving teams on Saturday as the Brewers hosted Brandeis University at Kresge Pool. The VC women posted a 165-119 victory over the Judges, while on the men’s side, Brandeis had a 183.5-97.5 victory against the Brewers.

The meet opened with the 200-yard medley relay which saw the foursome of junior Sarah Quintana, rookie Abbe Colgan, junior Alejandra Robins and senior Abby Whittington post second overall in a time of 1:51.11. The Brewers also took third in the event as junior Jolie Walker, rookie Bella Rippon, senior Lillian Lowenthal and sophomore Maya Luongo combined for a mark of 1:54.82.

The men’s 200-medley relay saw seniors Anthony Cheng, Robbie Perot and Jason Albaum, along with sophomore Hayden Ehrenfeld combine for second overall with a time of 1:42.77.

In the 1000-yard freestyle, rookie Addie Wiener was second overall in a time of 11:11.12, followed in third by classmate Maleigha Vietti in fourth with a mark of 11:16.43. Next up was the women’s 200-yard freestyle which saw senior Grace Myers victorious in a time of 2:01.04 after coming back from a two-second deficit at the halfway point. Rookie Abigail McLaughlin swam to third overall in 2:02.24. The men’s 200-free saw Perot take second in 1:49.64, while junior Lukas Johnson was fifth in 1:56.55.

The women’s 100-backstroke was a 1-2 punch for the Brewers as Quintana was victorious in 1:00.51, followed in second by Rippon, who touched the wall in 1:01.03. The men’s side saw rookie James Hatch take third in 1:01.20.

In the women’s 100-breaststroke, Colgan was the winner with a mark of 1:09.87. Rookies Frances Pope and Stephanie Norris were close behind, earning fourth (1:15.39) and fifth (1:16.59), respectively. The men’s event saw junior Rory Stumpf earn second overall with a mark of 1:07.51.

The 200-butterfly women’s event saw a 2-3-4 finish as Robins took runner-up in 2:18.03, followed by Lowenthal and junior Karlie Porter in 2:22.42 and 2:27.49, respectively. On the men’s side, sophomore Tyler Tsukuda was fourth (2:10.01), while Albaum was fifth (2:16.91).

In the women’s 50-free, Luongo was second in 25.68, followed by Whittington and rookie Lilly Masters in third (25.70) and fourth (25.89), respectively. Sophomore Ben Glazebnik was the winner on the men’s side, touching the wall in 22.13. Ehrenfeld was close behind in second with a time of 22.54.

Diving came next on the 1-meter as Vassar senior Evelyn Boyle took the win with a score of 177.45 points. The men’s side saw sophomore Jacob Cerone earn the victory as well, compiling 169.25 points.

Back to the pool saw the 100-freestyle contested as Luongo earned the win after taking a commanding lead at the 50-yard mark to finish in 55.97. Whittington grabbed key points for the Brewers, taking third overall in 56.33, while Masters was fifth with a time of 57.41. The men’s event saw Glazebnik earn second overall in 49.18, while Ehrenfeld rounded out the top three in third with a mark of 50.56.

In the 200-backstroke, Rippon was the winner, touching the wall in 2:12.43. Rookie Quinn Hoaglund and McLaughlin continued to pick up critical points for the Brewers, taking third (2:18.91) and fourth (2:21.70), respectively. The men’s side was won by Tsukuda, who posted a 2:10.70 for victory. Hatch was fourth in 2:14.37, while senior Leroy Wang was sixth (2:23.79).

The 200-breaststroke was another event win for Colgan, who touched in 2:34.46, outpacing second-place by nearly two seconds (2:36.44). The men’s event saw Perot finish second in 2:23.07, while Stumpf was fourth in 2:34.83.

In the 500-freestyle, Vietti was third overall in 5:30.24 to lead the women’s squad. Myers took fourth in 5:32.89 for those valuable team points. In the men’s event, Johnson was fourth overall in 5:24.54, while rookie Eli Werner was fifth (5:31.84).

The women’s 100-butterfly saw another 2-3-4 punch as Robins was runner-up in 1:01.82. Lowenthal grabbed third in 1:02.42, while junior Abby Wang was fourth in 1:06.44. The men’s side was a dramatic affair as Glazebnik and Brandeis’s James Smith both touched the wall in 55.35 to earn a first-place tie.

In the three-meter diving event, Boyle took first with 157.65 points, while Cerone was the men’s top finisher with 149.35 points.

Rippon grabbed another event win in the 200-yard Individual Medley, touching in a time of 2:17.04. Colgan took third in 2:20.87, while Porter was fifth overall in 2:31.46. On the men’s side, Perot was second in 2:04.06, while Cheng finished fourth in 2:07.84.

The final event of the day was the 400-yard freestyle as the Brewers squads had a great effort. In the women’s event, the foursome of Luongo, McLaughlin, Masters and Whittington won in a time of 3:41.93 – which included solid splits for Luongo (55.65), McLaughlin (55.64) and Whittington (54.37) on the anchor leg. Vassar also took third with Lowenthal, junior Alanna Muello, Quintana and Myers combining for a time of 3:47.26.

In the men’s final 400-relay, the Brewers saw Johnson, Albaum, Glazebnik and Ehrenfeld earn second in 3:20.25, while the group of rookies Robin Auwaerter and Croix Horsley, Hatch and Tsukuda were fifth in 3:43.20.

Both squads return to action this Friday when they host Montclair State University at Kresge Pool. Meet time is set for 6pm.