NEW YORK, N.Y. (November 4, 2023) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's swimming team finished in third place at the two-day Fall Invitational, hosted by New York University at the Palladium Athletic Center.

The event was contested in three sessions with Stevens, NYU and Drew all competing in a championship-style meet, with one session Friday and a pair of sessions Saturday.

The nationally-ranked Violets finished in the top-two spots in nearly every event to win the meet with a two-day score of 541. Drew took second with 274 points, while Stevens finished third with 222.

Although NYU won the meet, Stevens' swimmers posted several impressive times to climb to the top of the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) leaderboard in their respective events. 

Top Performers

• Sophomore Will Stibor and junior Cade Cermak have moved into first and second place, respectively, in the 100-yard freestyle. Stibor posted a time of 47.60 seconds, while Cermak touched the wall in 48.15.
• First-year Patrick Cortelli and Stibor moved into the top two spots in the 200 Free. Cortelli's time of 1:48.35 narrowly edged Stibor's 1:48.41. Cortelli also moved into the top spot in the 500 Free with a time of 4:52.55 and the 1650 Free with a time of 16:50.37.
• Sophomore Angel Velasquez moved into first place in the MAC in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 59.43 seconds.
• Junior Edward Platonov swam a 1:57.32 in the 200-yard individual medley to move to the top of the conference standings. Junior Liam Rodgers (4:2.4.64) and senior Phong Tran (4:34.53) moved into first and second place, respectively, in the 400 IM.
• Velasquez, graduate student Derick Miller, sophomore Amedeo Bove and Stibor completed the 200 Medley Relay in 1:36.45 to propel Stevens to the top of the leaderboard.
• Lastly, the quartet of senior Darius Truong, Velasquez, Miller and Cermak completed the 400-yard medley relay in 3:33.13 to move Stevens into first place.

For the Opponents

• Derek Maas secured a pair of NCAA "B" cut times, winning the 100-yard breaststroke in 54.60 seconds and the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:01.00. Maas totaled three first-place finishes to lead all swimmers.
• Teck Chen Koh won the 100- and 200 Fly to lead Drew.

Around the Middle Atlantic Conference

• Misericordia 141, Hood 112
• St. Mary's (Md.) 79, Stevenson 25
• York (Pa.) 123, Saint Vincent 78
• Ursinus 135, Widener 127
• Stevenson 59, McDaniel 36
• Hood 163, Lycoming 23
• Misericordia 195.5, Lycoming 36.5
• Arcadia 158, Messiah 100
• King's (Pa.) at Lebanon Valley - Canceled
• Albright and FDU-Florham were off

Coach's Comments
"Great weekend of racing. Compared to this meet last year, we had a ton of huge improvements. Friday night was highlighted by a nice 500 by Patrick Cortelli. Our 200 IM's were strong, led by Ed Plantonov. In the 50 Free, Will Stibor was our top performer. The session had two strong relays as well."
"This morning, Liam Rodgers had a great 400 IM. Later, Darius Truong gave us a strong swim in the 100 Back."
"This evening might have been our best session. Patrick Cortelli had a great mile to start the session. Our 100 Freestyle was fantastic; Will Stibor had a tremendous swim, nearing a lifetime best. Deo Bove, Derick Miller and Conlan Hurley also had some really strong 200 Fly's."
"A long weekend of racing, but the fact that we were able to find some speed and race extremely well in the second session on Saturday makes us all feel very happy about where we are." – head coach Adam Schneider

Up Next

• Stevens heads to upstate New York on Nov. 18 for a triangular meet with hosting Hartwick and Scranton, hosted by the Hawks at the Moyer Pool. Former foes in the Empire 8 Conference, Stevens and Hartwick have met annually since 2011 (skipping the pandemic-affected 2020-2021 season). Stevens holds an 11-0 lead in the all-time series. The Ducks and the Royals are meeting in a dual for the first time. Appropriate event links will be posted to StevensDucks.com once available.

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