COMPLETE RESULTS
MIDDLETOWN, CT -- After 16 of the 17 contested events on Saturday evening, Williams was clinging to a 5-point lead over the Engineers of Worcester Polytechnical Institute. The last event would be the 400 freestyle relay, and the Ephs sent the defending NESCAC champion relay of Ben Lin, Jamie Finnegan, Curtis Maher and Grant Johnson to finish the job.
Lin got out to a fast start in 46.31; Finnegan and Maher clocked identical times of 47.09 for the middle two legs; Johnson ended it with a 46.29.
The final score of the three competitions were:
Williams College 170.00 -- 151.00 Worcester Polytechnical Institute
Williams College 254.00 -- 58.00 Wesleyan University
Williams College 195.00 -- 124.00 Tufts University
While Williams' last relay was good enough to ensure victory in a close meet against WPI, the relay team from Tufts University won the event overall. The Jumbo squad of Kingsley Bowen, Zachary Wallace, Lorenzo Lau and Roger Gu posted a blistering time of 3:06.18, making a statement that they are not to be overlooked in the NESCAC standings.
Looking at both today's performance and the results from the recent Boston College meet, Eph head coach Steve Kuster said that his biggest take-away is, "how well the team raced." He continued, "Today, in particular [during] such a close meet - every swim was significant and the entire team contributed."
When pressed on the performances that were the most notable, Kuster mentioned the 500 freestyle and the diving performances.
In the latter, freshmen Steven Kreuch made his mark in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions. The only competitor to score higher than Kreuch was Tufts' All-American Matt Rohrer. But Kreuch's victories over all WPI and Wesleyan competitors were crucial in the close meet. In addition, senior Andrew Lyness finished fourth and fifth on the 3-meter and 1-meter boards, respectively, and continues to increase his point-scoring ability.
Meanwhile the 500 freestyle continues to be a strong point in the lineup. Five of the fastest 6 finishers from all four teams were Williams men, and each of those performances were faster than 4:50. The healthy crop of freshmen made their contribution, Andrew Trunsky led the way again and was joined by Will Burford and Karl Thomas. Again relying on a strong back half, sophomore Kenny Liu made his way into the fray. And representing the upperclassmen was Dan Needham, finishing second overall.
An exciting meet and fast racing concluded Williams' 2016 portion of their 2016-17 competitive schedule. The Ephs return to racing against rival Amherst on January 7th of the new year.
