WORCESTER, MASS. -- The Ephmen traveled to WPI this weekend to compete against nine other teams in the Gompei Invitational. While the invitational spans three days, the Williams team competed only on Saturday, flooding the finals and sweeping top finishes in many events.
Saturday's session consisted of an 11-dive 3-meter competition, the 200 freestyle relay, the 400 IM, the 100 backstroke, the 50 fly, the 200 freestyle, the 50 backstroke, the 100 breaststroke, and concluded with the 400 medley relay. Many Williams swimmers also competed in time trials between sessions. The Ephmen took up nearly half of the A-final qualifying places after prelims and accumulated 1349 points by the end of finals.
The team rested and suited for this meet, showing up to WPI with the intention of securing some fast mid-season times. Saturday was also an opportunity for the Ephs to practice racing in a prelims and finals meet, a competition format which the team doesn't usually face until NESCACs in February.
Assistant coach Maddie Downs was happy with the day's results. "The men's team did a wonderful job executing their race plans, focusing on the details, and supporting each other throughout the meet," commented Downs. "It was a great preview of what's to come at the end of season!"
The first event of the finals session was the 200 freestyle relay. For the 'A' relay, Barrett Heritage '25 led off strong with a 21.44 to give Williams the edge over Bryant University. Mason Green '27 dove in next, blazing to a 20.17 split, a personal best relay split for the sophomore. In the third leg, captain Oliver Schalet '25 extended Williams' lead by a second with a speedy 20.15. Theo Randall anchored the relay to bring the Ephs to victory in an impressive 20.19. The B-relay of Colin Kavanagh '27 (21.43), Harrison Williams '26 (20.91), Kevin Whitworth '26 (21.22), and Gabe Lee '26 (20.82) had a great performance to earn 4th for the Ephs, just 0.2 seconds behind WPI in 3rd.
The Ephs were stellar in the 400 IM. The event was won by Aidan Lee '27, who earned a collegiate in-season best time of 4:04.76. Lee sped ahead of the field at the start of the race, and extended his lead in the breaststroke leg to cruise to victory. Henry Campbell '27 had an exceptional final 100 split of 55.29 to overcome a Bryant competitor and place 2nd in 4:06.74. Nathaniel Tunggal '25 was close behind, nearly catching the swimmer in 3rd but placing 4th with a time of 4:07.33. First-year Seth Riley had an impressive breaststroke split of 1:10.78, and placed 7th with a time of 4:12.61.
The 100 backstroke was next. In the prelims session, Oliver Schalet '25 took the top spot, swimming to a best time of 49.80 and winning the first heat by 10 seconds. Ryan Nunez '27 also tried his hand in the backstroke, placing 2nd at prelims with a 50.53. Whitman Horton '28 earned the 3rd place spot at prelims with a 51.72. Schalet and Nunez scratched the event at finals, but Horton represented the Ephs well with a 4th place finish and a time of 52.54. Horton later competed in the 50 backstroke, where the first-year placed 2nd for Williams with a 24.43.
In the 50 butterfly, Barrett Heritage '25 out-touched a Bryant competitor by 0.01 seconds to earn 2nd for the Ephs. The senior's time of 22.59 is the second-fastest in the NESCAC so far. this season. Noah Labich '25 had a great showing, moving up 3 places from his prelims seed to place 5th in 23.19. Notably, the breaststroke-specialist Michael Grover '26 made an appearance in the 50 fly at prelims, dropping a commendable 22.98.
Williams dominated the 200 freestyle today claiming 7 out of 10 lanes in the A final. Harrison Williams '26 took victory at the finals session, characteristically even-splitting his last three 50s to touch in first at 1:40.86. Ryan Nunez '27 was just behind, splitting the same time of 51.46 as Harrison Williams in his back 100, and taking 2nd place for the Ephs in 1:40.98. After this race, Harrison Williams and Nunez now rank 2nd and 3rd in the NESCAC for the 200 freestyle. Theo Randall '27 had a solid swim, speeding to the lead after the first 100 and placing 5th in 1:41.29 after being just out-touched by 0.01 seconds. Nye Hanan '28 (1:42.28), WIlliam Hook '28 (1:44.50), Colin Kavanagh '27 (1:44.82), and Gabe Lee '26 (1:47.61) also represented Williams in the A-final of this event.
The Ephs had a great day on the diving side, as well. The 11-dive 3-meter diving competition was won by Haochen Liu '27, who qualified for the February NCAA Regionals meet after scoring a personal best of 508.60. Calder Biondi '28 executed an amazing 5132d to place 2nd with 496.25 points, and qualified for his first NCAA Regionals. Ben Lowy completed the 1-2-3 sweep, placing 3rd with 384.75 points and competing in two new dives (203b and 303c). Gabe Swisher-Rosa '27 also added two dives today, scoring a 303b and 203b for the first time and placing 6th with 209.80 points. Eph head diving coach Brandon Pearson commented: "My little Ephabas truly defied gravity today."
The last individual scoring event was the 100 breaststroke, with Williams qualifying for half of the A-final spots. Michael Grover '26 sped ahead in the first 50 (26.33) and maintained his lead to win the event in 55.95, the top-ranking time in the NESCAC and a collegiate in-season best time best time for the junior. IMer Oliver Schalet '25 showed-off his versatility in the strokes and placed 2nd in his off-event with a new best time of 56.05. Kevin Jiang '26 (58.39), Mason Green '26 (58.74), and Ian Fournier '28 (59.14) put together strong swims as well, earning 6th, 7th, and 10th place points for Williams.
To close the meet was the 400 medley relay. In the 'A' relay, Gabe Lee '26 earned a major lead in the backstroke leg, touching in at 50.58. "I found my moo," commented Lee on his race. Michael Grover '26 extended the gap in the breaststroke leg with a time of 56.10. Barrett Heritage '25 dove in next, splitting a fiery 50.31 before Oliver Schalet '25 anchored in an outstanding 44.93. The overall A-relay winning time of 3:21.92 was over 1.5 seconds ahead of Springfield in 2nd. The 'B' relay of Colin Kavanagh '27 (51.31), Ian Fournier '28 (58.01), Noah Labich '25 (50.20), and Theo Randall '27 (44.83) finished 3rd in 3:24.35. The 'C' relay of Aidan Lee '27 (52.04), Kevin Jiang '26 (57.69), Nathaniel Tunggal '25 (50.17), and Ryan Nunez '27 (45.09) placed 4th with a time of 3:24.99.
Overall, the Williams team put together excellent swims and dives on Saturday at the Gompei Invitational, earning many of the top-ranking performances in the NESCAC this season. The Ephs stood out for their races and dives, but also for their energy, enthusiasm, and cheering on deck. The Ephs will travel to Ft Lauderdale, FL to train over Winter Break, and will next return to competition on January 11 at Amherst to take on their Little Three Rivals.
