The RPI men’s swimming and diving team had a very strong showing in the Upper New York State Collegiate Swimming Association Championship Meet at Nottingham High School in Syracuse February 22, 23, and 24. The RPI men finished in sixth place out of thirteen teams with a team score of 907 points. Ithaca College took first place followed by Alfred, Hartwick, Union, and Lemoyne, who beat RPI by 19 points. The team had a number of incredible performances at the meet, breaking seven school records, qualifying one swimmer with an A-cut for NCAA nationals, and provisionally qualifying three additional swimmers with a B-cut for nationals.
Ben Fell had the most outstanding performance among the RPI men with one NCAA national A-cut, three individual NCAA national B-cuts, one relay team NCAA national B-cut, three individual school records, and three relay team school records. Fell took first place in the 100-yard backstroke, earning an A-cut with a school-record time of 51.47 seconds. Fell took second place in two events: the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:42.83 and the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:52.75. Both of these times are new school records and were enough to make NCAA B-cuts. Fell also made an individual NCAA nationals B-cut when he led off the 400-yard freestyle relay with a 100-yard time of 46.97. Fell, along with teammates Mark Cassalia, Ian Stith, and Paul Gaffuri, took first place at states in the 200-yard medley relay as well as qualifying for an NCAA nationals B-cut in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:35.49.
Among RPI’s other strong performers—all of whom scored team points—was Senior Matt Anderson, who took second place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:56.36. In addition, Anderson took 11th in the 100-yard butterfly and 13th in the 200-yard individual medley. Stith took fourth place and set a new school record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 52.53. He also took third in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:56.64 and eighth in the 50-yard freestyle, posting a 22.23 mark.
Cassalia took a fourth place in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:13.39), fifth place in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:00.71), and 11th place in the 200-yard individual medley (2:03.17). Gaffuri finished fourth in the 400-yard individual medley (4:17.03), fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:13.72), and seventh in the 1650-yard freestyle (17:06.46). Eric Johnson came in eighth in the 400-yard individual medley (4:36.19), 16th in the 1650-yard freestyle (17:34.73), and 21st in the 500-yard freestyle (4:57.33). Bill Harris took sixth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:13.89),13th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.99), and 20th in the 200-yard individual medley (2:07.42). Mike Budris finished 13th in the 200-yard butterfly (2:04.73), 14th in the 1650-yard freestyle (17:27.90), and 21st in the 100-yard butterfly (55.79). Senior Tim Lyons took 13th in the 100-yard backstroke (56.70), 15th in the 200-yard backstroke (2:05.03), and 18th in the 200-yard individual medley (2:05.65). Dave Weinman took two 17th-place finishes in the 200-yard individual medley (2:04.60) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.50). He also took an 18th place in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:18.57). Rounding out the RPI scorers was Freshman Mark Schopmeyer with a 17th-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (48.82), and a 23rd in the 50-yard freestyle (22.84).
A number of relay teams scored in the top 10 at the meet. The 400-yard freestyle relay team—made up of Fell, Gaffuri, Schopmeyer, and Stith—took fourth place with a time of 3:10.84, which set a new school record and qualified leadoff man Fell for an individual NCAA nationals B cut in the 100-yard freestyle. The same foursome finished seventh in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:28.82, setting another school record. The 400-yard medley relay team made up of Fell, Weinman, Stith, and Gaffuri took sixth place with a time of 3:35.94. The 800-yard freestyle relay team of Lyons, Budris, Johnson, and Weinman made 10th place with a time of 7:31.11.
In diving, Zach Lingley took fifth place in the one-meter event with a score of 341.15. He also took eighth in the three-meter event with a score of 312.55. Randy Lafleur took 12th place in both the one-meter event (266.75) and the three-meter event (230.15). Eric Internicola rounded out the divers with a 16th-place finish in the three-meter event (193.95) and an 18th in the one-meter event (206.15).
The RPI men came home from the meet very happy with their performance. The members of the team are now looking forward to cheering on their teammates who qualified for nationals.
