Swimming & Diving
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.
Men's Lacrosse
The RPI men’s lacrosse team dropped its season opener on the road to the No. 11 Endicott College Gulls. Endicott, which is currently 3-0 on the season, netted three goals in both the first and fourth quarters en route to a 9-3 victory over the Red Hawks.
Junior midfielder Paul Cerone scored two goals for RPI, which had two goals in the second quarter and one goal in the final seconds of the fourth.
In the first quarter, the Gulls took the early lead after goals by seniors Joe Gugino and Dan Cain, as well as by junior Brad Lipkvich.
Nearly three minutes into the second frame, RPI placed on the board with Cerone’s first goal of the night. His shot from 25 yards beat junior Endicott goaltender Eric Hagarty for his first of the season. It didn’t take long for the Gulls to respond, as junior Jonathan Prentice netted another for Endicott with 4:39 remaining in the half. Cerone came back for his second of the day with 55 seconds left in the quarter on an assist from sophomore Nick Billy, before Gulls senior Brandon Dube added his first of the day to bring their lead to 5-1 with a single second left on the clock.
The third quarter saw only Dube finding the back of the net to bring the score to 6-2, Endicott. Cain, Dube, and senior Nick Cosco closed out scoring for the Gulls in the fourth quarter. The Red Hawks staged a last-second comeback, as sophomore Conor Chocheles scored with eight seconds left in the game. However, this wasn’t enough to cut the five-goal differential.
This Sunday, the men’s lacrosse team looks to redeem itself as it battles the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers on the road, with the opening face-off at noon.
Indoor Track & Field
In an impressive weekend performance that saw RPI claim three state titles, the men’s indoor track & field team placed third in the 2009 New York State Collegiate Championship, while the women’s team placed fourth in a field of nine teams. The event was ultimately won by St. Lawrence University on the men’s side and Ithaca College on the women’s.
Junior Justin Metzger took home the pole vaulting crown with an NCAA Provisional Height of 4.68 meters. Classmate Casey Lewis also placed third in the event with a height of 4.30 meters.
Competing in two events, junior Kyle Barden placed top marks in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.22 seconds, and also placed third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.09 seconds.
Closing out the state titles claimed by the Engineers, sophomore Alec Marshall won the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.84 seconds.
Although no members of the women’s team finished first in an event, many had solid finishes in their respective competitions. The 4x200 relay team—consisting of senior Kristiina Baker, juniors Cassie Fortini and Rachel Guillot, and freshman Elise DeSimone—placed second with a time of 4:08.35. In the triple jump, freshman Lindsey Dubas took sixth place with a distance of 10.56 meters, and junior Lauren Brown placed second in the 1,000-meter run, posting a time of 3:11.40.
Barden’s performance earned him his third overall—and second straight—Liberty League Track Performer of the Week.
Next weekend, select members of the indoor track & field team will be competing in the ECAC Championships, which will be held March 6–7 at Tufts University in Boston.
