MONTCLAIR, N.J. (October 7, 2023) – Graduate student Derick Miller won a total of three events to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology to a 150-112 victory over Montclair State University Saturday in a dual meet at the Panzer Athletic Center. 

First-year Patrick Cortelli, juniors Edward Platonov and Cade Cermak and sophomore Angel Velasquez also won multiple events to lead the Ducks, who opened the season 1-0 after winning 11 of the 14 events. Stevens has won six straight meetings in the all-time series to improve its mark against the Red Hawks to 6-4. 

Montclair State claimed three of the 14 races, with Lucas Gomes accounting for two of the Red Hawks' victories. Montclair State dropped to 0-1.

In addition to Miller, first-years Drew Rossi, Patrick Cortelli, Eli Reinhold, Riley Huelsmann, Jason Scheckner and Nick Croghan all made their Stevens debuts. 

The Rundown

• The Ducks started the meet with a narrow victory in the 200-yard medley relay. sophomore Leo Timmermann, Velasquez, Miller and sophomore Will Stibor reached the wall in 1:38.27. In his collegiate debut, Cortelli posted an 18-second victory in the 1000 Free and Platonov won his first event of the day with a two-second win in the 200 Free to make it three wins in three events.
• Gomes won his first event (100 Back) to break Stevens' run of victories, only for the Ducks to rebound two events later as Miller won the 200-yard butterfly to account for nine points. Gomes claimed his second event of the day with a victory in the 50 Free, but the 100 Free proved to be a turning point in the meet as the Ducks swept the top-three spots in the race. Cermak won the race in 48.48 seconds, with Platonov (48.92) and Stibor (49.68) close behind. 
• Junior Ryan Ward won the 200-yard backstroke, while sophomore Lukas Mikulenas took first in the 200-yard breaststroke, out-touching Montclair's Spenser Dubois by .24 seconds. Cortelli won his second event of the day with a first-place finish in the 500 Free (5:04.05) before Miller capped his debut with a victory in the 100-yard butterfly, edging senior Darius Truong by .18 seconds. Velasquez and junior Liam Rodgers finished 1-2 in the 200-yard individual medley to seal the victory. The Ducks' 400-yard freestyle relay team of Cermak, Rossi, Stibor and Platonov posted a nearly five-second win to close out the meet.

Top Performers

• Miller was the top individual scorer for the Ducks, winning three races and posting one third-place finish.
• Platonov finished with two wins, one second place and one third-place finish.
• Truong finished the day with two runner-up finishes. 

For the Opponents

• Dubois took first in the 100-yard breaststroke to account for the other victory for Montclair State.

Around the Middle Atlantic Conference

• Stevenson 193, Marywood 70

Coach's Comments

• "The meet started with a tight finish in the medley relay that resulted in a victory for us. After the first two individual events, Montclair came back and really started to out race us. After the break, we got a huge sweep of the 100 Free with Cade Cermak, Ed Platonov and Will Stibor, finishing first through third, respectively, which really gave us some great momentum. Lukas Mikulenas had a great win in the 200 Breast and after a fantastic 500 from Pat Cortelli, and a 1-2 finish in the 100 Fly by Derick Miller and Darius Truong, we were feeling very confident. Another 1-2 finish in 200 IM really sealed the meet for us, with Angel Velasquez and Liam Rodgers leading the way. At the end of the day, we were able to put together a very nice 400 Free Relay to finish the meet the right way. Some solid racing to start the year and we are happy to get a quality win against a strong opponent." – head coach Adam Schneider

Up Next

• Stevens returns to the pool on Oct. 21, when the Ducks head to southern New Jersey to take on Rowan. The Ducks have dropped four straight duals to the Profs and trail in the all-time series 5-2. The meet on the 21st will be the first between the teams contested in Glassboro since Oct. 31, 2015. Links for live video and/or stats will be posted to StevensDucks.com as they become available.

Athletic Department Social Media
Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics         
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks

Men's Swimming Social Media
Facebook: "Like" Stevens Swimming         
Twitter: @stevensswimming
Instagram: @stevensswimming

#AllRise