NCAA DI editorial coverage is proudly sponsored by Adidas. Visit adidasswimming.com for more information on our sponsor. For all the latest coverage, check out our event coverage page.
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS
By Natalia Kaczor, Swimming World College Intern
The annual Gompei Invitational swim meet was held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on December 2-4, 2016. The following college swim teams participated: Assumption College, Bentley University, Brandeis University, Bryant University, Clark University, Marywood University, Merrimack College, Stevens Institute of Technology, The College of Saint Rose, Rowan University, Roger Williams University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. On the men’s side, WPI won with 2936.5, and on the women’s, Bryant University won with 2647.5 points. The combined team winner was Worcester Polytechnic with 5136.5 points.*
The meet was highlighted by dual winners Jillian Rice of Bryant, Danielle Caruso of Stevens, Shannon Earley of Roger Williams, Tim Petri of Worcester Polytechnic, teammate Jack Bauer, and Jesse Novak of Rowan. Below are the winners of the championship finals for each respective event, as well as notable relay splits.
Day 1:
Women
800 Free Relay: Bryant A, 7:36.75
1650 Free: Shannon Quirk, Assumption, 17:20.50
The Bryant women opened the night with a win in the 800 Free Relay, with an impressive anchor leg from Jillian Rice in 1:52.22. Quirk’s consistent splits were the key to her victory in the mile.
Men
800 Free Relay: Rowan A, 6:44.43
1650 Free: Connor Harrigan, Stevens, 16:08.46
The Rowan men dominated the 800 Free Relay, winning by almost fifteen seconds. Jesse Novak, 2015 NCAA Division III champion in the 50 and 100 free, led off the relay in 1:38.58.
Day 2:
Women
200 Free Relay: Bryant A, 1:37.54
200 IM: Tie: Niamh Morgan, Assumption, and Emily Niemiec, Bentley, 2:10.02
500 Free: Danielle Caruso, Stevens, 5:01.85
200 Back: Tie: Shannon Earley, Roger Williams, and Alaina Scifo, Bryant, 2:06.85
50 Free: Jillian Rice, Bryant, 24:35
100 Breast: Bailey Howarth, Rowan, 1:07.72
100 Fly: Sarah Jurczyk, Stevens, 56.93
100 IM: Kaitlin McGahie, Bentley, 1:00.33
400 Medley Relay: Stevens A, 3:53.19
The Bryant A relay just out-touched Stevens A in the 200 free relay, with Rice providing another strong anchoring leg in 23.30. In the 200 IM, Morgan and Niemiec registered the first tie of the night. Caruso won the 500 by almost six seconds in her dominant race.
The second tie of the night came in the 200 Back between Earley and Scifo, in a strong final which featured eight swimmers at 2:10.00 or under. Rice won her first of two events in the 50 free. Howarth was the only swimmer under the 1:08 mark, but the field yielded ten swimmers under the 1:10 barrier. Jurczyk won the 100 Fly by almost a full second; however, her prelim swim of 54.89 was good for an NCAA Division III B cut. The top ten all broke the 1:00 barrier in the 100 Fly.
McGahie just out-touched Morgan Nichols of Assumption by 0.02 to take the 100 IM title. Stevens won the 400 Medley Relay, despite a 51.40 anchor leg for Bryant by Rice.
Men
200 Free Relay: Rowan A, 1:23.82
200 IM: David Kitchen, Rowan, 1:53.75
500 Free: Sam Fuller, Stevens, 4:38.37
200 Back: Tamir Zitelny, Brandeis, 1:52.17
50 Free: Jesse Novak, Rowan, 19.91
100 Breast: Tim Petri, Worcester Polytechnic, 56.80
100 Fly: Jack Bauer, Worcester Polytechnic, 49.72
100 IM: Alex Gallant, Worcester Polytechnic, 52.90
400 Medley Relay: Worcester Polytechnic A, 3:22.92
The Rowan men dominated the 200 Free Relay with a secure anchor leg by Jesse Novak in 19.53. In the 200 IM, all ten men were under the 1:59 barrier. Fuller claimed the 500 Free title by over three seconds. Zitelny won the 200 back by over a second. Novak was the only swimmer under :21 in the 50 free. The 100 Breast featured all ten swimmers under the :59 mark. Bauer just out-touched Novak in the 100 fly by .12 to take the 100 fly victory. Gallant was the only man to break :53 in the 100 IM. Despite a 43.43 anchor by Novak for Rowan, Worcester Polytechnic claimed the win in the 400 Medley Relay.
Day 3:
Women
200 Medley Relay: Bryant A, 1:47.02
100 Free: Jillian Rice, 51.74
200 Breast: Katie Prescott, Stevens, 2:24.62
400 IM: Shannon Earley, Roger Williams, 4:34.86
200 Free: Danielle Caruso, Stevens, 1:53.84
100 Back: Alaina Scifo, Bryant, 59.01
200 Fly: Samnatha Torrez, Bryant, 2:08.33
400 Free Relay: Stevens A, 3:31.88
Rice dominated the 100 free as the only woman under 52. The top ten women in the 200 breast were all under the 2:33 mark. Earley won the 400 IM by three seconds. Caruso won her second event of the weekend by almost three full seconds. Scifo just out-touched Marissa Patterson of Worcester Polytechnic by 0.02 to claim the 100 back. Torrez out-touched Jenny Day of Worcester Polytechnic by 0.03 to clinch the 200 fly. To close the meet, Stevens women claimed the 400 free relay with an impressive 51. 96 split by Courtney Jones.
Men
200 Medley Relay: Worcester Polytechnic A, 1:31.59
100 Free: Jesse Novak, 44.54
200 Breast: Tim Petri, Worcester Polytechnic, 2:04.63
400 IM: Chris Rudel, Stevens, 4:09.72
200 Free: Eric Feuerstein, Rowan, 1:41.83
100 Back: Jack Bauer, Worcester Polytechnic, 50.85
200 Fly: Nick Marks, Rowan, 1:53.20
400 Free Relay: Rowan A, 3:03.33
Worcester Polytechnic claimed the 200 medley relay despite a blazing 19.35 anchor for Novak for Rowan. Novak came for his second title of the meet winning the 100 by almost two seconds. Petri won his event by just under three seconds. The 400 IM featured all ten men under 4:25. Feuerstein dominated the 200 free by almost three full seconds. Bauer just out-touched Zitelny in the 100 back by 0.03 for the win. Marks took the 200 fly with a slim victory of 0.66 seconds. Rowan claimed the final relay of the night by two seconds.
*There was 1 meter, 3 meter, and synchronized diving held at this meet as well.
Full results are available here.
Meet Links