HOBOKEN, N.J. (October 17, 2009) – Freshmen Alex Benham and John Hu each set pool records in their first-ever collegiate meet as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's swimming team coasted to a victory in its season-opener for the second straight year following a 136-107 triumph over Montclair State University in a men's and women's dual-meet at the De Baun Aquatic Center in Hoboken, N.J. Hu touched in with a record time of 1:59.40 in the 200-yard backstroke, while Benham set a new pool record in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:39.44.
Stevens dominated the meet from start to finish winning nine of the first 10 events and swam the last few in exhibition as the Ducks had already recorded enough points to earn the dual-meet victory.
The Ducks took first and third in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of freshman Greg Charriez, junior Matthew Preedy, Hu, and sophomore Carl Nagle earned the top spot by touching at 1:40.79 and freshman William Wright, sophomore Mark Bagniewski, freshman Jack Van Roden, and sophomore Steve Vealey placed third with a time of 1:44.67.
Benham earned the pool record in the 1000-free and junior Evan Wilson was second, carding a 10:03.16. The Ducks took first and third in the 200-yard freestyle as junior Dan Pecoraro won the event with a 1:48.87 and freshman Luke Niezelski was third (1:55.51). Stevens took the top-three spots in the 100-yard backstroke as freshman Greg Charriez was first (56.10), Wright was second (57.66), and sophomore Ben Watkins was third (58.23).
Preedy and Bagniewski placed first and third in the 100-yard breaststroke with times of 1:02.43 and 1:08.05, respectively, and Hu, sophomore Matthew Smith, and freshman Kyle Ripley swept the top-three spots in the 200-yard butterfly (1:57.04, 2:02.21, 2:14.36).
Nagle took first in the 50-free and sophomore Roberto Silva carded a 51.95 in finishing third in the 100-free. Hu (1:59.40), Pecoraro (2:03.67), and Watkins (2:08.74) took first-through-third in the 200-yard backstroke, and Benham (2:16.58), Preedy (2:25.95), and Ripley (2:26.76) did the same in the 200-yard breaststroke.
The Ducks swam the rest of the day's events in exhibition but continued to swim well. Wilson would have won the 500-free (4:53.40) and freshman Daniel Munt would have won the 100-yard butterfly with his time of 55.70. Lastly, Hu's time of 1:58.87 in the 200-yard individual medley would have been good enough for a 9.98 second win.
Stevens will return to action on October 24 at 1 p.m. when it visits cross-river rival New York University.
