HOBOKEN, N.J. (October 24, 2014) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's swimming team will open its 2014-15 season at home against NCAA Division I foe Saint Peter's University.
 
Click here for the 2014-15 swimming schedule preview!
 
Head Swimming Coach Brad Thornton (New York, N.Y.) has a talented and dedicated group of seniors leading the team this year.
 
Senior Jonathan Collins (Tecumseh, Mich.) has made steady improvements from the start of his freshman season that began back in 2011. A sprinter, Collins will provide Stevens with valuable points at all championship-style meets this season and is eyeing a spot on the conference roster come late-February.
 
Senior Price Hu (Oak Harbor, Wash.) is another Duck that has improved consistently, and will be a key asset in butterfly and individual medley races throughout 2014-15. Hu has had a very strong preseason, and hopes to find his way to the NCAA Championships in the 200-fly come March.
 
After reaching the national meet for the first time in 2014, senior John Rees (Temecula, Calif.) hopes to do the same this year. Rees specializes in the butterfly and sprint freestyle and with continued hard work could find himself participating in the NCAA's on relays and as an individual this year.
 
Another Duck that reached the NCAA's as a junior is veteran Alex Xu (Petaluma, Calif.). Xu, who transferred into Stevens last year, is versatile and will be an impact performer in freestyle and individual medley events. The California native is an all-conference honoree and could find himself participating at the national meet as an individual and as a member of several relays.
 
The Stevens junior class features Joshua Lefeber (Franklin, Wisc.), Zach Pergolizzi (New Milford, N.J.), Dane Pilcher (Herndon, Va.), Ravi Sun (Arkadelphia, Ark.) and Tomasz Wolinski (Wallington, N.J.).
 
Lefeber was the Swimmer of the Meet at the 2014 Empire 8 Championships and will be working hard for a return trip to the national meet. He was a three-time conference champ last year as an individual, and three more times as a member of first- or second-place relay groupings.
 
Pergolizzi his steadily been cutting time in his sprint freestyle events throughout his career which should lead to a spot on the Empire 8 Championships roster come March. Pilcher had a strong summer and will be looking to make the NCAA's after a B-cut in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2014. Pilcher took home the conference title in the 200-breast, tallying first-team All-Empire 8 honors for his performance.
 
Sun has earned Empire 8 Swimmer of the Week honors five times in his first two years on Castle Point, and is hoping to earn a second trip to the national meet in March. Sun holds program-records in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke, earning honorable mention All-America honors at the 2014 NCAA's in the 200-back and has been a multiple-time all-conference performer in each of his previous two conference championship meets.
 
Wolinski swims freestyle events for the Ducks and is an honorable mention All-American after an excellent 2013-14 season. An all-conference performer, Wolinski is looking to be an impact performer on the national level and could be a point-scorer in three events. The Wallington, N.J. native was the conference champ in the 100-yard freestyle, earning all-conference nods in four different swims a season ago. He holds Stevens' 100-free program-record.
 
Eight Ducks will be returning for their sophomore seasons. William Arnott (Suffern, N.Y.) cut time off his distance freestyle swims as a freshman and has started well, eyeing NCAA B-cuts early in the season. Breaststroker Alex Chen (San Diego, Calif.) is working towards the postseason roster with the goal of tallying team points at the conference championships.
 
Johann Lau (Staten Island, N.Y.) is also eyeing a spot on the conference roster after demonstrating a lot of improvement since his rookie campaign, while reigning Empire 8 Rookie of the Year Mark Lippert (Solon, Ohio) hopes to tally an NCAA B-cut in addition to remaining one of the top performers in the E8 at the 2015 conference championships.
 
Sophomore Luke Malvey (Newton, N.J.) should be a scorer at most dual-meets for the Ducks and has looked very strong throughout the 2014 preseason, with classmate Alan Rempel (Oregon City, Ore.) showing marked improvement in his distance freestyle times. Doug Sholander (Rockaway, N.J.) is another student-athlete that has demonstrated serious improvement as the second-year Duck is competing for a spot on the conference roster and a slot in several relays. Rounding out the sophomore class is Austen Young (Newton, Mass.). Young came into camp in great shape, thus thrusting himself into the competition for medley relay spots and possible B-cuts in butterfly events.
 
The Stevens coaching staff brought in a large freshman class filled with a lot promise and talent. James Betz (Mission Viejo Calif.) has come into camp with NCAA B-cut times in freestyle events, while Matthew Burk (Ridgewood, N.J.) will provide depth among the sprint freestyle corps. David Duque (Naples, Fla.) has clocked NCAA B-cuts in a variety of events and is one of the teams' most versatile swimmers, demonstrating the possibility of reaching the national meet as an individual and member of several relays. Ethan Gehenio (Annville, Pa.) has good size and versatility and should definitely figure into the equation in backstroke and sprint freestyle events. Joshua Gross (Marlboro, N.J.) is another rookie with a lot of talent, contributing in sprint free and fly, while Nicolas Gural (Toms River, N.J.) will be a sprint freestyler this season. Local product Gene Han (Jersey City, N.J.) should be in competition for a spot on the conference roster come March, with distance freestyler Connor Harrigan (Bethlehem, Pa.) coming to the team with NCAA qualifying times. Harrigan is someone that should make an immediate impact. Tyler Konstalid (Gettysburg, Pa.) has shown quality versatility for the Ducks in sprint freestyle and butterfly swims, and Brennan Maxwell (Ashburn, Va.), like Harrigan, is another newcomer that can make an immediate impact for Stevens. Maxwell will be competing for spots on 'A' relays and could be an NCAA performer as an individual in the butterfly as well. Will Murtishaw (Westfield, N.J.) will give the Ducks depth in the backstroke and butterfly, and Reilly O'Connor (Germantown, Pa.) has been dropping time throughout the preseason, demonstrating a lot of talent in the sprint freestyle specialty. Rounding out the incoming class is Michael Thompson (Altadena, Calif.) who will contribute in the 50- and 100-freestyle.
 
"We're very excited about this year's freshmen class," commented Thornton. "We have a handful of them ready to immediately make an impact on the National level, and they have not disappointed over the past few weeks. This group is well-rounded and should make a lasting impact on the program."
 
The Ducks are coming off the second Empire 8 title in program history, something that Thornton and his staff would absolutely like to see occur again.  Prior to the conference meet, the Ducks will look to qualify as many swimmers as they can for the national meet in March via the Franklin & Marshall Invite and ECAC Championships prior to the close of the first semester.
 
Key duals with TCNJ and Johns Hopkins University will highlight head-to-head action as the Ducks look to get back into the top-10 at the NCAA's in March after taking 29th in 2014.
 
Click here for the schedule preview with Coach Thornton!
 
Fans unable to get to Hoboken for the 2014-15 opener can follow via live video and results available at www.stevensducks.com.
 
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