Courtesy Wesleyan Sports Information

Meet Results  Friday, Feb. 25:  Trials - Finals  Saturday, Feb. 26: Trials - Finals  Sunday, Feb. 27: Trials - Finals  Diving Results: 1 meter  - 3 meter    Complete Results  Team Scores - Top 24 Individual Scores  Psyche Sheet - Meet Records

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - With a victory in all five relay events and individual titles in four of the 17 swimming events, Williams College posted its third consecutive NESCAC title in the men's swimming and diving championships hosted by Wesleyan University Feb. 25-27, 2005.

Williams (1862 points), which earned a 510.5-point margin of victory, has now taken home four of the five Championships crowns (2001, 2003, 2004, 2005) with Middlebury, the 2005 runner-up, capturing the 2002 title.

Junior Will Cunningham became a three-event winner for Williams and was named swimmer of the meet when he took the 100 freestyle with a time of :46.13. He had won the 200 IM and 100 backstroke events previously, winning one event each day. He also was part of four of the five Williams relay teams that won events including the 400 freestyle relay that included sophomore Nick Gallucci, junior Brad Brecher and junior Zack Orjuela in today's final event. The winning time was 3:04.97, a Wesleyan Natatorium pool record.

Also a three-event winner was Middlebury sophomore Tim Lux, taking the 100 breaststroke in 2:07.16, giving him the title in all three breaststroke events during the meet.

Sophomore Ben Byers, who gave Wesleyan's its first ever individual NESCAC title on Saturday with a victory in the 1000 freestyle, added the 1650 freestyle title to his credits with a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 15:51.69. Also earning a spot at Nationals with a Wesleyan Natatorium pool record time of 1:51.89 in the 200 butterfly was Amherst sophomore Ethan Treat, complementing his win in the 400 IM on Saturday. Junior Rick Estacio of Amherst also made it two wins in the Championships when his 1:50.33 clocking in the 200 backstroke gave him an automatic bid to Nationals as well. He was the 50 backstroke victor on Friday.

A double winner in the diving competition for the second year in a row, Hamilton junior Mike Salmon picked up 497.85 points in the three-meter board to outdistance the field by an 87-point margin and qualify for the NCAA Championships. He was named diver of the meet.

Other awards went to Middlebury head coach Pete Solomon as swimming coach of the year; Todd Kolean of Hamilton as diving coach of the year; Amherst senior Jordan Bowling as senior diver of the year with the most points accumulated at NESCAC meets over the last four years; and senior Nick Pepe of Williams as the senior swimmer with the most NESCAC points over four years.

Courtesy Wesleyan Sports Information

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - In search of its third straight NESCAC title and fourth in the five-year history of the championships, Williams College extended its lead over second-place Middlebury to 317.5 points after leading by a resounding 208 points after the first day.

Junior Will Cunningham led off the 200 medley relay with a :23.14 split in the 50 back as Williams broke the NESCAC record in the event while qualifying automatically for the NCAAs with a 1:32.33 effort.

Joining Cunningham in setting the record were senior Rob Tartaglione, senior Nick Pepe and junior Blake Albohm. All but Tartaglione were part of the relay squad for Williams that set the NESCAC mark at the NCAA Championships last year (1:32.74). Cunningham also took his second event of the meet when he won the 100 backstroke in a time of :49,62, automatically qualifying him for Nationals while bettering the Wesleyan Natatorium pool record he set in prelims (:50:31). He was the 200 IM victor on Friday.

Also winning for the second time in the Championships was Middlebury sophomore Tim Lux as he captured the 100 breaststroke in :57.66. He was the 50 breaststroke winner on Friday.

Other winners on Saturday included Tufts junior Brett Baker as his 1:41.53 in the 200 free gave him a comfortable 2.47-second margin of victory ; Middlebury sophomore Rob Collier who won by a scant .09-second margin with a :50.28 in the 100 butterfly ; Amherst sophomore Ethan Treat who narrowly missed his own NESCAC record in the 400 individual medley with a 3:58.89 clocking (his record is 3:58.85) ; and Wesleyan sophomore Ben Byers who nipped Williams sophomore Steve Spinelli by .21 seconds in the 1000 freestyle. Byers made up more than half a second on Spinelli in the final 100 yards to pull out the win.

In the day's final event, the 800 freestyle relay, the Williams quartet of Cunningham, freshman Ben Bullit, junior Brad Brecher and Spinelli took first with a pool-record time of 6:51.34.

Courtesy Wesleyan Sports Information

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Williams won two relays and two individual events to take an early lead after the first day of the 2005 NESCAC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships being held at Wesleyan University this weekend.

Junior Will Cunningham won the 200-yard individual medley and led off the winning 400-yard medley relay for the Ephs. Williams placed four swimmers in the top six of the 500-yard freestyle led by sophomore Steve Spinelli who won the event. The Ephs also won the Championships first event, the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Two meet records fell during the first day of competition. Middlebury senior David Hawkins set a Championship meet record winning the 50-yard butterfly in 22:74. Hamilton junior diver Mike Salmon won the 1-meter diving competition for the third consecutive season, shattering one of the longest standing NESCAC records with 528.40 points. The mark was previously held by Frank Marston of Bowdoin set in 1992.

Other day one winners include Colby’s Tom Ireland (50-yard freestyle), Middlebury’s Tim Lux (50-yard breaststroke) and Amherst’s Rick Estacio (50-yard backstroke).