The men's swim team broke their three meet losing streak by defeating UMass-Dartmouth on January 21st144-84. Coach Whit Griffith was looking forward to seeing more of his swimmers qualify for the New England Championships in February. As the meet went along though, WPI found themselves in the lead and ended up winning the meet going away.
Our 200-yard medley relay team got us off to a fast start as we took first and second place. The winning team of four was made up of senior Eric Hultgren (Newport, RI), sophomore Teak Ackman (Newport, RI), freshmen Jon Prusak (Easthampton, MA) and Jamie Murdock (Woodinville, WA). The all-freshman foursome of Tim Connolly (New Haven, CT), Brian Favela (Cumberland, RI), Adam Terio (Reston, VA) and Brandon Alexopoulos (Suffield, CT) took second for the Engineers.
WPI also had multiple individual event winners. Hultgren won the 100-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke. Ackman took first in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle. Terio won the 50 and 100-yard butterfly. Murdock was victorious in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. Single event winners were Alexopoulos in the 50-yard breaststroke and sophomore Jason Wening (Jefferson City, MO) in the 500-yard freestyle.
On January 25th, WPI went across town for a meet with Clark University. Although the men were defeated 147-108, many of the swimmers for WPI swam personal bests in their events and we had another qualifier for the New England Championships.
Swimming their personal bests in the meet were, Wening in the 1,000-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley, Connolly in the 200 freestyle, Prusak in the 50 and 200-yard backstroke and 100 butterfly, Murdock in the 50 and 200-yard backstroke as well as the 200 individual medley, Favela in the 50-yard breaststroke, Ackman in the 50 freestyle and senior Dave Hoagland (Manchester, CT) in the 200-yard breaststroke. Murdock's performance in the 200-yard backstroke qualified him for the New Englands in that event.
The women's team also swam against UMass-Dartmouth, but they were beaten 167-109. They put together two good relay swims, but couldn't put enough individual points on the board to match the Corsairs.
As in the men's meet, our 200-yard medley relay team got the Engineers off and running. The winning team was comprised of seniors Becky Kupcinskas (Millbury, MA), Renee Cusson (Chicopee, MA) and captain Jen Sanna (Madison, WI) along with junior Katie Snell (Sutton, MA). Cusson and Snell were also individual winners as they won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly respectively. Sanna, Snell and Cusson were then joined by Patty Linden (Highland, IN) to take first place in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
The women's team also had a date with the Cougars on January 25th and didn't fare any better as they lost 137-128. There were some personal bests swam for WPI during the meet.
Junior Monika Lehky (Hamden, CT) had here best time in winning the 200-yard breaststroke. She also had her best times in the 50-yard breaststroke and 50-yard freestyle. Others swimming personal bests were senior Brooke Kuffel (Rowayton, CT) in the 100 and 1,000-yard freestyle, Linden in the 200-yard freestyle, Kupcinskas in the 50 and 200-yard backstroke, Becky's sister, Rachel, in the 50 and 200-yard breaststroke, senior Johanna Sambade (E. Falmouth, MA) in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle, Cusson in the 50-yard butterfly and 100 freestyle and senior Alyce Pack (Watertown, CT) in the 50 breaststroke and 200 individual medley.
The wrestling team traveled to Trinity College to participate in a quad-meet with Williams, MIT and the host on January 21st. They were able to win two out of their three matches, defeating MIT 32-6 and Trinity 49-0, but losing to Williams in a close match 19-16.
In the MIT match, WPI winners were senior captain George Chu (Westford, MA) at 126 lbs., junior Paul Hammerstrom (Milford, NH) at 134 lbs., sophomore Nate Fiore (Cohasset, MA) at 142 lbs., junior Dan Hugaboom (Freeville, NY) at 150 lbs., senior captain Garrett Trombi (Amherst, NH) at 158 lbs., senior captain Matt Wassel (Walpole, MA) at 167 lbs., junior Matt Shedd (Augusta, ME) at 177 lbs. and freshman Craig Howitt (Windham, ME) in the heavyweight class.
In the Trinity match, Engineer winners were junior Mihn Pham (Haverhill, MA) at 118 lbs., junior John Wiebe (Shelby, MT) at 126 lbs., freshman Aaron Becker (Coventry, RI) at 134 lbs., freshman Peter Falk (Smithfield, RI) at 142 lbs., Hugaboom at 150 lbs., Trombi at 158 lbs., Wassel at 167 lbs., senior Stan Farrell (Augusta, ME) at 177 lbs., junior Andy Funk (Concord, NH) at 190 lbs., and freshman Rob Tuccillo (E. Meadow, NY) in the heavyweight division.
In the Williams match, WPI winners were Chu at 134 lbs., Trombi at 158 lbs., junior Jeff Stearns (Narragansett, RI) at 177 lbs., Farrell at 190 lbs., and senior captain Rich DeStefano (N. Reading, MA) in the heavyweight class. Last Wednesday, Alumni Gym was rockin' as the Panthers of Plymouth State made a visit to "the pit." In recent years the rivalry between these two schools has heated up. In 1993, Plymouth was the NECCWA Champion and in 1994, WPI was the Champion.
This meet was all it was supposed to be. Freshman Aaron Becker started the match off by beating the defending New England Champion at 118 pounds in sudden death 12-8. At 126, George Chu won his match as the wrestler from Plymouth was disqualified. Junior Paul Hammerstrom kept the streak going at 134 as he beat his man 14-11. In one of the feature matches Garrett Trombi, last year's 2nd place finisher at the New England Championships, was wrestling the 3rd place finisher. Trombi controlled the match from the start and won 16-5. At 16-7, a close call with three seconds remaining in the match gave Plymouth a win to pull closer in the overall meet. As if there wasn't enough excitement, the match came down to the heavyweights with WPI trailing 19-16. In what can be termed as the equivalent to any last second play to win a game, Rich DeStefano pinned his man in 29 seconds for the Engineer victory 22-19.
New track coach Deb Evans has the ladies track team working hard this winter as they have been competing in invitational meets around the region. We have had some great performances as well as some qualifiers for the New England Championship Meet later in the season.
New England qualifiers for WPI are senior Amy Brooks (Peabody, MA) in the high jump, junior Heather Cleary (Pembroke, MA) also in the high jump as well the long jump for the New England and ECAC Meet, junior Elaine Mongeon (Southbridge, MA) in the high jump and freshman Heather Mezzaccaro who has qualified in two events, the long jump and 200-meter dash.
On January 21st, the Engineers competed at Bates College and ran very well. We had some event winners, more New England qualifiers and plenty of strong performances.
Junior Chris Moore (Bedford, NH) placed first in the long jump with a performance good enough to qualify him for the New England Championships. Steve Labranche continues to run well as he took first in the 1,000-meter run with a time under the qualification standards for the New Englands. Sophomore Ted Manley (Salem, MA) took third in the triple jump and junior Marc LeFebvre finished second in the high jump with a personal best jump for him. He is currently ranked #2 in New England in that event. Our 4X800 relay team is also ranked #2 in New England also as they continue to run well.
The Engineers took their modest two game win streak on the road to Chestnut Hill to face Pine Manor College on January 21st. WPI proved to be superior as they took the victory 79-50. Sophomore Kim Landry (Gardner, MA) continued her outstanding play on the week as she scored 24 points and pulled down 13 boards. Senior captain Tricia Pignone (Seneca Falls, NY) chipped in with 10 points, while junior Rebecca Rubenstein (Rockland, ME) came off the bench to add 9 points and 6 rebounds. For the week, Landry averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds and was selected to the ECAC Weekly Honor Roll.
Last Tuesday, the Engineers hosted the Lady Jeffs of Amherst in a game that promised to be exciting. WPI had to come from behind, to win their fourth straight 67-56. The L-connection of Landry and junior Jenn Lovin (Waterford, CT) led the Engineers as they recorded their fourth double-double in the same game for the season. Landry had 22 points and 11 rebounds and Lovin had 17 points and 15 rebounds. Junior point guard Jen Plante (Nashua, NH) had a good game of the bench with 11 points and 5 assists.
Last Thursday, the Engineers played their first NEW 8 Conference game at Mount Holyoke and pushed their winning streak to five with a 79-68 win. Landry again led WPI with 20 points and she got some help from sophomore Danielle Batey (Fairfield, ME) who scored a career high 16 points and Pignone added 12 points in the victory.
WPI hosted Clark University on January 21st in their first official Constitution Athletic Conference game. Although the two schools have been playing against one another since 1920, Clark just joined the CAC this season. The Engineers were coming off a loss to Brandeis and were hoping to continue their recent success versus the Cougars. Earlier in the year, at the City Tipoff, WPI beat Clark 87-67.
As the game started, it was apparent that this time around was going to be a little different as Clark was hot from behind the 3-point arc to take the lead into the locker room 31-26. WPI battled back and won going away 77-63. Leading the Engineers on this night were senior captain Scott Ennis (Canterbury, NH) who had 17 points and five steals, sophomore Jeff Cayer (Shelton, CT) who carried the inside play with 16 points and junior Jim Naughton (Dublin, Ireland) who had 15 points and 14 rebounds. Senior captain Chris Dunn had 19 points and was named to the ECAC Weekly Honor Roll.
Last Wednesday, the Engineers hosted Trinity College, currently the #4 team in New England. Playing without Jim Naughton, the game was tied at halftime 38-38. In the second half, WPI missed 14 free throws and ended up losing 78-68. Chris Dunn (Seekonk, MA) was the leading scorer for WPI with 26 points. In his first start of the season, sophomore Mike Shannon (Worcester, MA), scored 15 points. The Engineers have three home games this week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, so come on over to Harrington and support the home team.
What: 3rd annual WPI Spirit Day
When: February 11, 1995 during the men's and women's basketball games
Where: Harrington Auditorium
Time: 2 pm to 6 pm
SPECIAL NOTES:
1. Concerning the banner contest; Theme: Spirit Prizes: Awarded to the best three banners
**Banners must be presented to the WPI cheerleaders by 1 pm on the 11th to be eligible for contest.
**Winners will be announced at the conclusion of the men's game and a representative must be present to receive prize.
2. Free food and drink!
3. Halftime shootout during both games!