Blacksburg, Va. – Yale men's swimming and diving moved up to fourth place out of eight teams on the second day of the Virginia Tech Invitational with a total score of 320.5. Virginia Tech continues to lead the competition at 922.5 points.
Yale posted great performances in the relays on the second day of competition. In the 800-yard freestyle relay event, Yale's 'A' relay team finished runner-up with a time of 6:40.79 – Juniors Adrian Lin and Jonathan Rutter led off the relay while freshmen Henry Gaissert and Christopher Miller took it home. Yale's 'B' relay also finished eighth at 6:49.61, scoring significant points for the team. Yale also took eighth and 16th in the 200-yard medley relay event.
In the 400-yard individual medley, Rutter took third place with at time of 3.54.89, shaving over two seconds off his prelims time. Freshman Tristan Furnary also qualified for the 'C' finals in the event as the 23rd seed. Dropping three seconds, Furnary moved up to 17th in the finals, finishing at 4:02.42.
Freshman Duncan Lee finished 19th in the 'C' finals of the 100-yard butterfly at 50.48. Junior Shawn Nee and freshman Ryan Huizing just missed qualifying for finals.
Yale had a lot of success in the 200-yard freestyle, with multiple finals appearances. Leading the pack, Lin placed fourth at 1:39.33, moving up from his seventh place seed in prelims. Just behind Lin, Gaissert finished seventh at 1:41.06. In the 'B' finals, Miller and freshman Matt Slabe continued the momentum, placing 10th and 15th respectively. Rounding out the crew, junior Dirk Bell touched at 24th.
Yale also had multiple finals appearances in the 100-yard breaststroke. Junior Derek Kao finished at seventh place with a time of 56.26. Captain Alex Goss, sophomore Jacob Limaldi and Rutter battled it out in the 'B' finals. Rutter led the group, finishing ninth at 56.29, while Goss and Limaldi touched 14th and 16th respectively. Senior Nick Sehlinger closed out the event with a 24th place finish in the 'C' finals.
In the 100-yard backstroke, sophomore Edward Stolarski finished 15th at 50.58 with Nee just behind at 16th with a time of 50.68. In the 'C' finals, junior Aaron Greenberg placed 18th with a time of 50.49.
The Yale divers made a valiant effort in the three-meter diving event, each diver scoring points for the team. Yale's newest diver, freshman Chris LaBella, placed 10th while senior Anthony Mercadante and junior Wayne Zhang followed up with 11th and 14th finishes.
Day three of the Virginia Tech Invitational begins with prelims at 10:00 a.m. Finals will start at 6:00 p.m.
Report by Neil Zheng '19, Yale Sports Publicity
