SYRACUSE, N.Y. (February 27, 2010) - The Stevens Institute of Technology men's swimming team won the UNYSCSA/Empire 8 Championships on Sunday in Syracuse, N.Y. The Ducks cruised to the Empire 8 crown but edged Union College for the overall title with a win in the final event . Stevens finished with a team total of 1,157 points.
Freshman Alex Benham and junior Evan Wilson took the top-two spots in the 1650-yard freestyle. Both Ducks carded NCAA B-cuts with Benham touching the wall at 15:58.67 and Wilson finishing in 15:58.79. Dan Pecoraro placed fifth in the 200-yard backstroke (1:54.71), breaking his own school-record, and senior Matthew Preedy placed third in the 100-yard freestyle with a school-record time of 46.98. Sophomore Steven Vealey was sixth (47.47).
Freshman John Hu placed first in the 200-yard butterfly, clocking an NCAA B-cut time of 1:53.82. Sophomore Matthew Smith was second in the event with a time of 1:54.84.
Stevens won the final event of the day which clinched first-place overall. Pecroaro, Vealey, Wilson, and Preedy recorded an NCAA B-cut time of 3:05.16 in the 400-yard freestyle relay. They also beat the former school-record by more than three seconds.
The Ducks will now await NCAA Psyche Sheets which will come out in several weeks.
