POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – This afternoon the Brandeis Men's and Women's swim and dive teams traveled to Vassar College for their first dual meet of the year. The men's side won their matchup, 183.5 to 97.5, while the women's score was 165-119 in favor of Vassar.
On the men's side, the Judges won 12 out of 16 events. Their standout performers were junior Sam Dienstag (Wilmette, Ill. / New Trier) and sophomore Allen Hawkins (Weston, Conn. / Weston). Dienstag swept the distance events on the day. With times of 4:37.32 in the 500 free and 9:32.48 in the 1000 free, Dienstag is ranked first in the country in both of those events at the moment. Dienstag was also a member of the winning 200 Medley and 400 Free Relays. Dienstag was joined by senior Benton Ferebee (Memphis, Tenn. / Memphis University School) and first-years Benjamin Lee (Upton, Mass. / Nipmuc Regional) and Eric Xiao (College Station, Texas / AM Consolidated) for both relays. The 200 Medley Relay team finished with a time of 1:39.35, and the 400 Free Relay finished with a time of 3:16.82. Hawkins swept the breaststroke events for the first time in his career, winning the 100 breast with a time of 1:04.57 and the 200 breast with a time of 2:21.12. First-year diver David Zavala (Bridgeport, Ala. / Collins Hill) competed for the first time this season, coming in second with a score of 105.55.
On the women's side, the Judges won six out of the 16 events. Their standout performers were senior Bailey Gold (Berkeley Heights, N.J. / Governor Livingston) and first-year Nicole Caruso (Brentwood, Tenn. / Ravenwood). Caruso swept the distance events in the first dual meet of her Brandeis career. She won the 1000 free with a time of 11:02.75 and the 500 free with a time of 5:24.71. She was also a part of the second-place 400 freestyle relay with junior Monica Iizuka (Chatham, N.J. / Chatham), senior Ema Rennie (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Scioto), and fellow first-year Jenna Wild (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township), finishing with a time of 3:45.25. Gold swept the fly events. She won the 200 fly with a time of 2:11.23 and the 100 fly with a time of 59.85. She was a part of the winning 200 Medley Relay with Iizuka, first-year Jasmine Huang (Monterey Park, Calif. / Mark Keppel), and Rennie. First-year diver Summer Coronesi (Kihei, Hawaii / Kihei Charter) also competed for the first time this season, coming in second with a score of 175.75.
The Judges are back in action Friday, November 4th when they travel to WPI to take on WPI and Babson in a tri-meet.