CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- On the strength of five top-10 performances by junior James Liu (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) and strong contributions from sevel other swimmers, the Brandeis men's swimming and diving team finished fourth out of seven teams at the MIT Invitational this weekend. The Judges edged Bowdoin College by 20 points, 344-324, for fourth.
Liu led the way with his depth, earning top-10s in three different disciplines. Liu's best performance came in the 100-yard freestyle, when he placed fourth with a time of 47.58 seconds. He added two top-10s in the butterfly, taking fifth in the 200 (2:00.45) and ninth in the 100 (54.34 seconds). Liu placed ninth in both individual medleys, posting a time of 2:01.38 in the 200 and 4:26.04 in the 400. Liu was responsible for 58.5 points as an individual and contributed to 80 of the Judges' relay points.
Rookie Mark Eder (Princeton, N.J/Lawrenceville School) was the next top performer for the Judges, with three top-10s. His third-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:15.00) was tied for the highest finish for the Judges. Eder also finished fourth in the 100 breast (1:01.03), while finishing just ahead of teammate Liu in the 400 IM, taking seventh place with a mark of 4:24.69.
Sophomore Aaron Bennett (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) matched Eder's top finish by placing third in the 200-yard butterfly (2:00.06), while junior Alex Cemaj (Omaha, Neb./Westside) was fourth in the 1,650-yard freestyle (17:16.92), improving his career-best time by nearly three seconds. Senior Robert Morse (Hope, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) earned a pair of top-10s by taking eighth in the 1,650 free (17:42.07) and ninth in the 200 freestyle (1:48.62).
The team's best relay performance came in the 800-yard freestyle
relay when the team of Liu, Bennett, senior Mike
Rubin (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) and Morse placed fifth with a
time of 7:23.06.