GRANTHAM, Pa. (January 21, 2023) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's swimming total won four of 11 events en route to a perfect 3-0 record Saturday in a quad meet hosted by Messiah University at its Fredricksen Natatorium.

Sophomore Liam Rodgers won the 400-yard individual medley and classmate Edward Platonov topped the field in the 200-yard butterfly, while graduate student Ali Kolenovic took first in the 200-yard backstroke and the 400-yard freestyle team of first-year Will Stibor, sophomore Cade Cermak, Kolenovic and Platonov also finished first for the Ducks, who defeated York (120-78), Stevenson (160-20) and Messiah (108-91) to close the regular season with a 3-2 dual record. The Ducks improved to 2-0 all-time against Messiah and Stevenson, while the dual with York was the first between the programs. 

"The men faced some really great talent and I was extremely happy how they responded to being down early," head coach Adam Schneider said. "After the 50 Free, the men found a groove and were ultimately able to win all three meets. The highlights were Ed Plantonov's 200 Fly, as well as the entire 400 Freestyle Relay, whose win secured the victory for the men's team and broke the pool record in the process."

The race victories by Rodgers and Platonov sprung both swimmers up the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) leaderboard. Rodgers' winning time of 4:25.88 moved the second swimmer into sixth place in the 400 IM, while Platonov, the conference's reigning Rookie of the Year, moved into second place in the MAC after he won the 200 Fly in a time of 1:57.76. 

Kolenovic topped the 12-swimmer field in 1:59.85 and the Ridgewood, New Jersey native remains comfortably ahead on the conference leaderboard after posting a time of 1:48.64 at the TCNJ Invitational. 

In the final event of the day, the Ducks won the race in 3:13.42, surpassing the previous pool record of 3:15.58 set back in 2012. The Ducks remain atop the conference leaderboard with a time of 3:11.15 set at the TCNJ Invitational.

In addition to the Ducks' four first-place finishes, Stevens also scored four second-place finishes. In the first event of the day, the Ducks took second in the 200-yard medley relay as the quartet of first-years Leo Timmermann and Lukas Mikulenas joined sophomore Jack Martinek and Stibor in posting a time of 1:39.39. Stibor (49.15 seconds) and Cermak (49.35 seconds) finished second and third, respectively, in the 100-yard freestyle, while sophomore Ryan Ward (4:59.48) and Platonov (4:59.93) took second and third in the 500-yard freestyle. Mikulenas finished second in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:15.83) to round out the second-place finishes. It is also worth noting that junior Phong Tran (2:19.02) finished third in the 200 Breast to mark the third event of the 11 where the Ducks claimed both second and third. 

Up Next: Men's Swimming returns to the pool on Feb. 9 to open the four-day MAC Championships in York, Pennsylvania. All pertinent links will be posted to StevensDucks.com once available.

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