ROCHESTER, N.Y. - -The Brandeis University swimming and diving team competed at the University of Rochester Invitational. Scored as a series of dual meets with UAA rivals Rochester and NYU as well as Division I Canisius College, the Judges dropped all three matches on both the men's and women's sides.
For the second week in a row, the top performance came from the distance freestyle specialists. Swimming the mile (1,650 yards) for the first time this season, sophomore Joanna Murphy (Sarasota, Fla./Riverview) placed second overall with a time of 18:08.24, about 10 seconds off the pace set by NYU. On the men's side, senior captain Max Fabian (Keene, N.H./Oak Meadow) placed fourth with a time of 16:47.11. Second through fourth places in the race each touched within a second of each other. The Judges also had the No. 5 finisher in the race, rookie Zach Diamond (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Acad.), who had a time of 17:04.01.
Murphy added a sixth-place finish in the 500 free (5:23.91) and 10th in the 200 (2:05.83). Diamond and Fabian were sixth and seventh, respectively in the 500 free (5:00.10 and 5:01.22), while Diamond was eighth in the men's 200 with a time of 1:51.13. Fabian switched disciplines for a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:04.81.
Also turning in a fourth-place finish was junior Brian Luk (Hong Kong/Northfield Mount Hermon) in the 50 free with a time of 22.27 seconds. He was also seventh in the 100 butterfly (54.33 seconds), while junior Edan Zitelny (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) was ninth in 56.76 seconds.
The Judges were also successful in the 400-yard individual medley, with two top-eight finishes on both sides. For the women, rookie Erin Gawronski (Norwich, N.Y./Nowich) placed seventh (4:59.80), just ahead of Murphy (5:00.51). For the men, it was Diamond in sixth (4:28.74) and Fabian in seventh (4:29.31).
The Judges' top relay on the weekend was the men's 800 free, with Luk, Diamond, Fabian and rookie Taku Harada (Henrico, Va./Mills E. Goodwin), who took fifth with a time of 7:25.69.
TEAM SCORES
MEN
Rochester 242, Brandeis 111
NYU 294, Brandeis 62
Canisius 296, 69
WOMEN
Rochester 301, Brandeis 59
NYU 311, Brandeis 49
Canisius 289, Brandeis 56