RPI men’s swimming & diving placed third in the Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association Championship this past week, after finishing second overall in the first round of the tournament Friday. The Red Hawks were narrowly edged out of second place by Ithaca College, while first place went to Alfred College with a score of 1,149.
Taking several ECAC diving titles this season, senior Matthew Culen was named Diver of the Meet after claiming his second state title of the week, this time off the three-meter board. Earlier, Culen took the one-meter title with an NCAA Qualifying Standard of 453.90 points. In addition, Head Diving Coach Maria Coomaraswamy-Falkenstein took home Diving Coach of the Meet honors for the diving team’s spectacular performance.
Junior swimmer Brian Roth finished fifth in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 1:54.47, making the NCAA B Cut. Sophomore Alex Updegrove also placed seventh in the event.
RPI had many close finishes in the 200-meter breaststroke, which saw sophomore Julian Schott place fourth with a time of 2:08.67, freshman Lucas Lis place fifth with a time of 2:09.33, and senior Steven Hall in sixth place with a time of 2:09.37. Also of note, the 400-meter freestyle relay team took fifth place, posting a time of 3:09.24.
The team will find out next week who will be participating in the NCAA tournament, which will be held March 18–21 at the University Aquatics Center at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn.
