WORCESTER, Mass. – The Brandeis University swimming and diving team saw its second school record of the weekend on Day 3 of WPI's Gompei Invitational. The Judges had 14 top-ten finishes, coming in fifth at the meet with 3248 points, second to the hosts among Division III teams and just 22.5 points behind D1 Sacred Heart.
SECOND SCHOOL RECORD FALLS
- The Judges' second school record of the meet was set by first-year Michelle Weissler (Greenwich, Conn. / Greenwich) in the 50-yard breaststroke.
- Her time of 30.75 seconds took 0.15 of a second off the mark set by Hall of Famer Maya Marx '04 in 2003.
- Weissler finished in second place by 0.53 to a swimmer from Sacred Heart. It was the top finish by a Brandeis woman at the meet.
100 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 200 BACKSTROKE SUCCESS
- The Brandeis men posted 11 of the Judges' top-10 finishes, with the 100-yard individual medley and the 200-yard backstroke events providing the highlights.
- In the 100 IM, Brandeis swimmers finished in second and third place. Senior Benjamin Lee (Upton, Mass./Nipmuc Regional) was second in the event in 52.94 seconds, while classmate Eric Xiao (College Station, Texas/AM Consolidated) was third, just four-hundredths of a second behind.
- In the 200 backstroke, the Judges put three swimmers in the top 10. Junior Luke Abrahamson (Lincoln, R.I. / Lincoln) was sixth in 1:56.81, moving into seventh on the all-time list. Classmate Riley Pasicaran (Kennewick, Wash. / Hanford) was eighth in 1:58.88, while sophomore Jason Yan (Saugus, Mass. / Mystic Valley Regional Charter School) was 10th in 2:03.89.
MORE TOP FINISHES
- Lee and Xiao each had an additional top ten finish, with Xiao taking another third-place finish in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 26.82 seconds, while Lee was seventh in the event in 27.56 seconds. Xiao shaved three-hundredths of his previous #2 time in school history in the event and Lee moved into eighth all-time.
- Senior Sam Bundy (Charlotte, N.C./Ardrey Kell) also had two top tens. He was fifth in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 16:44.94, and sixth in the 200 butterfly in 1:58.85,
- On the women's side, in addition to Weissler's second-place finish, first-year Sasha Tsizer (Framingham, Mass. / Framingham) was fifth in the mile freestyle with a mark of 19:44.77.
- Senior captain Rebecca Kaplan (Fairfax, Va. / Robinson Secondary School) was ninth in the 50 breaststroke behind Weissler with a time of 32.05 seconds, good for eighth all-time.
- Two other seniors for the women had a pair of top-20 placements. Jenna Wild (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township) was 11th in the 100 IM in 1:03.49, good for sixth all-time, while placing 14th in the 100 free in 55.16 seconds.
- Audrey Teo (Palo Alto, Calif. / Palo Alto) was 14th in the 100 IM in 1:05.30 and 19th in the 50 breaststroke in 33.35 seconds.
RELAY HIGHLIGHT
- The men closed the meet on a high note with a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, coming from behind to earn bronze and ensure the team would stay ahead of Springfield in the final standings. The team of Xiao, senior Solomon Skelton-Harris (Golden Valley, Minn. / Robbinsdale Armstrong), Lee and sophomore Peter Mou (Chestnut Hill, Mass. / Brimmer and May School) turned in a time of 3:09.98.
UP NEXT
- The Judges are done for the semester and will be back in action on January 14th with a meet against Stonehill College for the women.
