WORCESTER, Mass. -- On the first day of action at the Gompei Invitational hosted by WPI, the Brandeis University men's swimming and diving team had seven top-10 performances, including a pair of silver medalists.

Earning runner-up finishes were rookie Edan Zitelny (Syosset, N.Y./Syosset) and junior Max Fabian (Keene, N.H./Oak Meadow). Zitelny was second in the 200-yard backstroke woth a time of 1:59.88, seven seconds off the winning and pool-record time established by a swimmer from host WPI. Fabian took second place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:52.13, which was five seconds behind an Engineer swimmer. 

As a team, the Judges' best event on the day was the 200-yard individual medley. In that event, they had three of the top 12 performances. Leading the way was Zitelny, who came in sixth with a time of 2:00.51. Sophomore David Lazarovich (Stowe, Vt./South Burlington) was 11th in the 200 IM with a time of 2:04.32, which was actually the ninth-fastest of the finals, winning the B final with a time faster than two swimmers who made the A race. Fabian was 12th in the event with a time of 2:05.27, the 10th fastest time.

Fabian (9th in 100 breast, 1:06.99) and Zitelny (18th, 100 fly, 56.86) finished with three scoring appearances. Sophomore Brian Luk (Hong Kong/Northfield Mount Hermon) was the only Brandeis swimmer to reach three A finals, all in sprint events. He placed fifth in the 50 free (21.73 seconds) and sixth in the 50 butterfly (24.59 seconds) and the 100 fly (53.99 seconds). 

Lazarovich added a second scoring event with a time of 1:03.69 in the 100 breaststroke, which placed 11 by winning the B final, and was the eighth-fastest time. He was also part of the Judges' top relay performance in the 400 medley relay, which came in fifth with a time of 3:45.00, swimming the breaststroke leg. Also on the relay were Zitelny, Luk and rookie Eb Weber (Murray, Ky./Murray). 

As a team, the Judges sat in fifth place at the meet after Day One with 590 points.