Springfield, Mass.-- Men's Swimming and Diving wrapped up an emphatic victory in their final away meet of the season, defeating host Springfield by a score of 202-95. The win pushes the Ephs' record on the year to 6-2.
Junior David Taylor led the way for the Ephs in the distance events, capturing first place in the 1000 yd freestyle. Taylor's time of 9:58.42 was just ahead of second placed Chris Weihs (9:59.20), a first year. Taylor would also win the 200 yd individual medley, leading a sweep alongside seniors Stuart Horgan and Greg McElroy. Taylor's winning time was 1:58.69, while Horgan and McElroy touched one behind the other in 2:03.03 and 2:03.72 respectively. McElroy would then turn around and outclass the rest of the field in the 200 yd breaststroke by nearly 6 seconds, placing first with a time of 2:13.30. Junior Daeus Jorento would place second with a time of 2:19.33.
Junior standout Paul Dyrkacz won both backstroke events in the meet. In the 100 yd event he took first place with a time of 54.06. First year Daniel Druckman also swam well to take third in the event with a time of 56.62. Dyrkacz would also win the 200 yd backstroke, finishing first with a time of 1:56.14. First year Christian Gronbeck placed second in the event with a time of 2:01.02. In the 200 yd freestyle Gronbeck swam an impressive time of 1:44.65, nearly a second and a half faster then his previous season best, to capture first place. Junior Philip Treesh placed second with a time of 1:46.65.
Junior Chris Corbett improved on his previous season best time in the 100 yd breaststroke, dropping a 1:01.24 in clinching first place. Sophomore Christopher Greeno came in second place in the event with a time of 1:02.95. Corbett would also win the 500 yd freestyle. Despite not normally swimming the event, he clinched the victory with a time of 4:50.03. First year Alex Nanda would come in second (4:57.96) while junior Scott Symonds completed the sweep with a time of 5:02.13.
First year Will Brown led a Williams sweep in the 200 yd butterfly, finishing just ahead of junior Tom Vieth and sophomore Sean Sutherland. Brown's winning time was 2:00.28, only 17 hundredths ahead of Vieth's 2:00.45. Sutherland finished a further 3 seconds back in 2:03.40. Vieth would capture an individual event victory of his own in the 100 yd freestyle, where he lead a Williams sweep of the event alongside Treesh and first year Andrew Nemeth. Vieth finished in 48.26, with Treesh (48.69) and Nemeth (49.47) close behind.
In the 50 yd freestyle junior Daeus Jorento continued his run of strong, consistent performances by finishing first with a time of 22.14. First year Alex Nanda would finish right behind Jorento in second with a time of 22.69. First year Thad Ricotta threw down another impressive swim in the 100 yd butterfly, dropping nearly half a second off his previous season best to finish in a time of 52.62. Senior John Guiffre placed second with a time of 55.22.
In the diving events the Ephs faced off against some of their toughest competition yet, with the Springfield program ranked among the top in Division III. First year Rohan Bhatt would claim first place in the 1m competition with a score of 253.27, and also take second place in the 3m competition (260.86).
The Ephs will now settle in as they prepare for their final home meet of the year versus NESCAC foe Middlebury on January 28th. The meet will mark the final home dual meet for 6 graduating seniors of the class of 2012, who will be honored for their contributions to the program before the meet. Williams will then kick off their postseason schedule with the Middlebury Invitational on February 3rd before preparing for the NESCAC championships, at home, which will begin on February 24th.
