EWING, N.J. (Oct. 23, 2021) – Facing a top-15 opponent on the road in the first true dual meet of the season, the Stevens Institute of Technology men's swimming team picked up three first place finishes before ultimately falling to No. 15 The College of New Jersey 166-94 Saturday at the TCNJ Aquatic Center.

Junior Ali Kolenovic, sophomore Darius Truong and first-year Edward Platonov all picked up victories in individual races for the Ducks as Stevens fell as a team for the first time this season.

Kolenovic picked up the first victory of the day for Stevens in the 100-yard backstroke as he touched in a final time of 52.88.

Two races later, Truong swam a final time of 1:57.33 to earn his gold medal in the 200-yard butterfly.

Finally, in the last individual race of the night, Platanov picked up his first career win with a time of 1:58.62 in the 200-yard individual medley.

In total, the Ducks earned top-two finishes in nine of the 16 races on the day.

How it Happened

• The meet opened with a tight race in the 200-medley relay as the combination of Kolenovic, Liam Rodgers, Truong and Kurt von Autenried combined for a time of 1:36.47 to be narrowly out touched by under a second and finish runner-up.
• First-year Thomas Haemmerle was the next competitor for the Ducks as he hopped in the pool for the 1000-free and picked up a third-place finish with a final time of 10:13.30.
• The Ducks went 2-3 in the next race of the day as Platonov picked up a second-place finish with a time of 1:45.27 and Ryan Ward finished just behind him in 1:50.89 in the 200-free.
• Kolenovic's first-place performance followed as he swam a time of 52.88 in the 100-back to pick up the win by over a full second.
• Next up was the 100-breast where Rodgers was the top finisher for the Ducks with a fourth-place finish in a final time of 1:03.16
• Truong's impressive performance was next in the 200-fly as he won the event by over two seconds.
• The shortest race of the night came next with Michael Shusta finishing as the top Stevens swimmer with a fourth-place time of 22.80.
• The 100-free was next and saw von Autenried swim a time of 46.68 to be just out touched and earn silver.
• The second individual race of the meet for Kolenovic was next as he touched in a time of 1:56.37 in the 200-back for a runner-up finish.
• Rodgers and Platanov both picked up bronze in the next two races of the day for Stevens as Rodgers earned third in the 200-breast with a time of 2:16.86 and Platonov picked up a third-place finish in the 500-free in a time of 4:55.91.
• The penultimate individual race saw Truong pick up a second-place finish in the 100-fly as he produced a final time of 51.94.
• The individual races wrapped up with Platonov earning his gold medal in the 200-IM as he edged out the second place finisher by over a second.
• The meet closed out with the 400-free relay as Kolenovic, Daniel Hold, Platonov and von Autenried all combined for a final time of 3:13.05 to finish in second place.

Next Up

• Stevens returns to the pool when compete for the first time at home on Nov. 5th in a dual against Drew University at 5:00 p.m.
• The Ducks have earned wins over the Rangers each of the last three times the teams have faced off, including a 134-71 win on Oct. 11, 2018 the last time the two teams met.
• Spectators are not allowed in the DeBaun Aquatic Center at this time, but a live stream of the event will be available on StevensDucks.com.

Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics         
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks
#AllRise