Ithaca, NY --- WPI got things off to a strong start this season with a pair of victories over Hobart (248-36) and host Ithaca 152.50-145.50) on Saturday. The Engineers (2-0) were led to victory by swimmers and divers from all classes as both veterans of the team and newcomers contributed to the wins, with the team today beating Ithaca for the first time in three years.  
 
First year Lucas Brown (Viera, FL) got the ball rolling as he won the first individual event of the day as he blitzed the men's 1000, jumping out to an early lead and never relinquishing it, stopping the clock in a time of 9:54.59, a win of over 20 seconds. Brown came back a few events later to win the 200 fly, out touching his teammate junior Lucas Pralle (Wayland, MA) 1:57.52 to 1:58.18. The first year almost collect the victory in the 500 but was run down in the last 50 and ultimately finished second with a time of 4:50.72. 

Brown was not the lone double event winner as fellow first year Luke Vipond (Mahtomedi, MN) collected wins in both of the breaststroke events. In the 100, Vipond posted the lone sub-1:00 time as he hit the wall in 59.93. In the 200, he used his early speed to establish a lead and remained out in front as he recorded a time of 2:13.59.  
 
Not looking to be left out of the action was senior Christopher Smith (Northbridge, MA), who helped pull WPI into the lead with a pair of late event wins. Smith was denied the win in the 100 back as he finished in second place with a time of 53.17, but in the last two individual events, Smith helped lead a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 fly, going 51.30, touching ahead of the aforementioned Pralle, who collected his second second place in the fly events stopping the clock at 53.04, 0.55 second ahead of teammate Dean Doubek (Arnold, MD). 

Smith came back one event later to claim the win in the 200 IM. The senior posted the lone sub-2:00 time as he stopped the clock in 1:59.20, followed by first year Kyle Sundberg (East Northport, NY) and sophomore Keegan Rowe (Harpswell, ME) who finished second and fourth respectively with times of 2:01.22 and 2:01.92. 

The Engineers didn't just get things done with wins however as the whole team's contributions made the victories possible. Smith, Sundberg, Doubek and Sean Tesoro (Reading, MA) made up the A 200 Medley relay, which finished in 1:35.54, but were crucially followed by the B Relay of Angad Ahluwalia (Attleboro, MA), Tyson Elliott(Portland, OR), Vipond and Nolan Schlessman (Sudbury, MA).  

Tesoro won the 50 free by a quarter of a second, posting a time of 21.59, and was part of a strong WPI showing in the 100 free, where led by Schlessman's 47.78, the Engineers occupied the second through seventh spots in the results. Such a showing led to the team of Kuba Latawiec (Newington, Ct), Angelo Reade (Newburgh, NY), Schlessman and Tesoro to combine to win the 400 free relay with a time of 3:10.68. 
 
The victory would not have been possible without the crucial points collected by the divers. Sophomore Tom Fitzgerald (East Longmeadow, MA)  was runner-up in both the 3 and 1 meters scoring 206.05 points and 202.85 points, while first year Aaron Lakin (Hamden, CT) recorded 148.45 and 111.55 points which were good for third and fourth overall.
 
The team is next in action for a spooky showdown on Halloween (Friday, October 31st) with NEWMAC rivals Babson and Coast Guard, as well Brandeis. 
 
Full Results
 
Team Scores