Despite having a pair of triple-winners, the Brandeis men's and women's swimming and diving teams dropped a dual meet to WPI at the Joseph M. Linsey Pool this afternoon. The WPI men overcame a strong performance from sophomore Max Fabian (Keene, N.H./Oak Meadow) to defeat Brandeis 157-107. Rookie Lauren Cruz's (Redmond, Wash./Hamilton East-Steinert) performance on the women's side wasn't enough to prevent the Engineers from pulling away by a 163-95 score.
Fabian was the star on the men's side, winning all three of his individual events. He started the meet strongly, winning the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:04.52, more than 45 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Fabian took a pair of 200-yard races as well, winning the butterfly in 2:08.24 and the breaststroke in 2:23.64.
Fabian also played an important role in perhaps the most exciting race of the afternoon, the men's 200-yard freestyle relay. Despite strong performances from senior Jared Goldman (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor), rookie Brian Luk (Hong Kong/Northfield Mount Hermon) and Fabian, Brandeis found themselves down by nearly three seconds heading into the final 50 yards. However, senior Niko Karkantis (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough Reg.) made up nearly six seconds on the top WPI team's anchor, earning Brandeis a come-from-behind win in the final race of the meet.
Luk was an individual winner for the Judges as well, taking the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.64 seconds. Junior Padraig Murphy (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) rounded out the winners on the men's side, taking the 200-yard backstroke in 2:09.33 seconds.
The Brandeis women were paced by Cruz, who had all three of the squad's victories. Cruz swept the backstroke events, winning the 100 in 1:06.80 and the 200 in 2:22.63. It was the first time she had swam the 200 since a Nov. 11 meet against Bentley College, and knocked more than one second off of her previous career best. Cruz also won the 50-yard freestyle, her time of 26.57 seconds just besting WPI rookie Amanda Konieczny (West Springfield, Mass./Granby).
Other notable performers for the Brandeis women included senior Holly Spicer (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) and sophomore Eliza Kopelman (Chestnut Hill, Mass./Brookline), both of whom finished second in both of their individual events.
Brandeis will be back in action next Saturday, when they will play host to Regis College. It will be the Judges' final home meet of the season.