Stevens Takes Third-Straight ECAC Title in Impressive Fashion; Hu Named Swimmer of the Meet

Stevens Takes Third-Straight ECAC Title in Impressive Fashion; Hu Named Swimmer of the Meet

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Rob Kulish

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (December 2, 2012) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men’s swimming team is the champion of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference for a third-straight year, rolling to the title by more than 1,000 points.
 
Senior John Hu (Oak Harbor, Wash.) was named the Swimmer of the Meet at this event for the fourth-consecutive time in his marvelous career. The veteran tallied two NCAA A-cuts, earned three individual wins and participated on two winning relays.
 
The team of senior Greg Charriez (Mohegan Lake, N.Y.), freshman Craig O’Dell (Golden, Colo.), senior John Hu (Oak Harbor, Wash.) and junior Shawn Hanak (North Royalton, Ohio) turned in a 3:24.43 and earned 64 team points in winning the 400-yard medley relay to open Sunday's action. The group’s time was also good for an NCAA B-cut.
 
Sophomore Wesley Elford (Phoenix, Ariz.), senior Alex Benham (Raleigh, N.C.), junior Nick Noga (Oriskany, N.Y.) and freshman Tommy Wolinski (Wallington, N.J.) swept the top-four spots in the 500-yard freestyle. Elford’s 4:31.94 was good for an NCAA B-cut and would have qualified for last year’s national meet.
 
Hanak, junior Joe Huyett (Blandon, Pa.) and freshman Byron Held (Beaverton, Ore.) placed two-three-four with times of 21.18, 21.24 and 21.39. Stevens swimmers actually ended up earning six of the top-eight placements in the 50-free.
 
Hu carded a 1:51.84 for a win and a B-cut in the 200-yard individual medley. His time would have qualified for last year’s NCAA meet. O’Dell, freshman Ravi Sun (Arkadelphia, Ark.), freshman Joshua Lefeber (Franklin, Wisc.), freshman Taylor Nichols (Clofton Park, N.Y.) and Charriez followed with the Ducks remarkably earning the top-six finishes in the event.
 
Stevens won the final race of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay, but official results have not been posted. Once received, this release will be updated to reflect the final team scores and placements. Huyett, junior Elijah Davis (Broomfield, Colo.), Held and Hanak carded a 3:05.47 in the victory.
 
Amazingly, following the 50-free, Stevens had already tallied 2,062 team points. New York University, the second-place team, had 1,046 points.
 
The Ducks finished competition with 23 NCAA cuts, including the two A-cuts from Hu.
 
Stevens will return to action in 2013 with a training trip to Aruba in early January and then its only home dual of the year against Johns Hopkins University January 19.
 
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