COMPLETE RESULTS
SCHENECTADY, NY-- Williams' 2016-2017 campaign got underway at Union College's Alumni Gym pool where the Ephs managed a convincing victory, scoring 203 points to Union's 92. The Ephs have a short turnaround before they host Springfield College at home in the Samuelson-Muir Pool on Sunday, the following day.
Eph head coach Steve Kuster, never one to be wholly satisified, remarked, "I thought there were some good swims today, but it was mostly nice to be back in a meet atmosphere with the team. I'm looking forward to using this as a starting point on which we improve."
For the incoming class of first-years the meet was the starting point of their Williams careers, and the youngsters turned in some solid performances throughout the competition.
In the opening event, the 200 medley relay, Andrew Trunsky led off his team with a 26.53 backstroke leg. His classmates Matt Zappe and Alex Bank swam breaststroke legs for the other two Williams relay teams in the event, posting times of 27.48 and 28.36, respectively. The final first-year competing in the relay event was Clayton Morikawa, who brought his team home with a freestyle split of 22.01.
The next event, the 1000 freestyle, was won by Will Burford, another young gun for the Ephs. Burford kept the race close with his Union competitor until the final 150 yards when he really stepped on the gas. Burford's final 50 yard-split was clocked at a 26.84.
After these fast first-years got a start on things, some of the veteran members of the team had a turn to show their stuff. Senior Grant Johnson outdueled teammates Zach Ottati and John Freeman to win the 200 freestyle in 1:45.57. Then Colin Hogan got to the wall to win the 100 backstroke.
John Enquist of Union College won the 100 breaststroke, while the top Williams finisher was Dragan Vujovic. Vujovic, in second place, led a Williams contingent to the wall and was followed by Zappe and Bank, who got their first individual swims in the breaststroke after both having swum that stroke in the relay.
Karl Thomas of Iowa City, Iowa swam his first race as an Eph in the 200 butterfly. Williams junior Dan Needham won the event in a touchout. Thomas was back in action just a few events later to place second in the 500 freestyle, and the only man to beat him was teammate and classmate Lucca Delcompare, the middle distance specialist who hit the pad with a time of 4:55.74.
In between those two events Trunsky won the 200 backstroke in 1:59.64 and Morikawa swam a speedy time of 2:09.36 in the 200 breaststroke to take second place. Union's Enquist won the latter to sweep the breaststroke events on the day.
Another notable race today came from Benjamin Lin in the 400 IM. Lin typically classifies as a sprint-type swimmer, but had a very strong showing in this longer event. At the halfway point of the race, Lin held a lead of over 6 seconds. After giving up some ground in the breaststroke to Enquist, Lin managed to fend off the Union swimmer and win the race with a time of 4:09.15.
Moving to the boards, senior Andrew Lyness gained a teammate this year with the addition of Steven Kreuch. Kreuch squared off against some very strong divers in the Union program and was able to capture third place in the 3 meter event and second in the 1 meter. Lyness would take fourth in both events.
To cap off the evening, two Williams teams finished before any Union squad could in the 200 freestyle relay.
Those were the highlights from the first outing of the season, and if you missed any of it then you can catch the Ephs again at home against Springfield on Sunday Novemeber, 20. For a full schedule, click here.
