WORCESTER, Mass. – The Brandeis University men's swimming and diving team spent their weekend competing at the WPI Invitational. The Judges earned 825.5 points to finish in seventh place among a field of Division II and III squads.
The Judges were led by junior Edan Zitelny (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset), who showed his versatility by scoring points in five different events across three disciplines, finishing in the top 15 each time. His best showing was in the 200-yard butterfly, where Zitelny reached his first A final and placed ninth with a time of 2:01.53. In the 100-yard fly, he earned 11th place with a time of 53.56 seconds, the eighth-best time in the finals. In the backstroke, Zitelny placed 12th in the 100 (55.07 seconds) and 14th in the 200 (1:59.42). His final scoring event was the 200 individual medley, where he also placed 14th(2:00.44).
The squad's highest finishes came from sophomore Zach Diamond (Staten Island, N.Y. / Staten Island Academy), who scored in four events and placed in the top 10 twice. In his first go at the 1,650 freestyle this season, Diamond placed sixth with a time of 16:43.42, behind only a handful of swimmers from Stevens, the meet winners. Diamond also placed eighth in the 400 IM with a time of 4:22.05. His other scoring performances came in the 500 free (13th, 4:55.80) and the 100 IM (15th, 56.81 seconds).
One other swimmer scored in four individual events, sophomore Taku Harada (Henrico, Va. / Mills E. Godwin). Harada scored in three different disciplines. His best performance came in the 100 free, where he reached the B final and placed 16th with a time of 1:50.18. He also reached the B final in the 500 free, placing 20th in 5:04.49. Harada's other scoring events were the 200 back (25th, 2:05.65) and the 200 IM (27th, 2:05.79).
Also scoring a pair of top-10 performances was sophomore diver Sam Zucker (Omaha, Neb./Anderson) who came in 8th one- and three-meter events with scores of 295.05 and 288.55, respectively.
The Judges had two swimmers earn points in all three breaststroke races , sophomores Adib Milani (Vienna, Va. / Marshall) and Rich Avrutsky (Needham, Mass. / Needham). Milani reached the B finals in all three, coming in 12th in the 50 (28.74 seconds), 16th in the 200 (2:18.46) and 18th in the 100 (1:03.69). Avrutsky was 20th in the 50 (29.42 seconds), 23rd in the 100 (1:04.24) and 29th in the 200 (2:27.71). Junior Cameron Braz (Monson, Mass. / Monson) scored in three freestyle sprints: 15th in the 200 (1:49.48); 23rd in the 50 (22.55 seconds) and 24th in the 100 (49.66 seconds).
The Judges are off from their dual-meet schedule until January 20, when they meet Colby College, but they will be headed to Dorado, Puerto Rico for their intersession training trip from January 1 through 8.