ITHACA, NY – It was a busy day of action for the Vassar College men's and women's swimming & diving team as the Brewers were in action for the two Saturday sessions at the 2021 Bombers Invitational at the Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium at Ithaca College.

In the morning session, the Brewers women opened in the 200-yard freestyle relay as junior Grace Myers, senior Jesse Ecklund and juniors Sophie Forbes and Abby Whittington combined for a time of 1:38.97 – a season-best mark that saw them finish fifth. On the men's side, seniors Brandon Li and Nikolas Pham, along with rookies Hayden Ehrenfeld and Ben Glazebnik powered their way to fifth overall in 1:27.03.

Next up in the 400-IM, sophomore Sarah Quintana had an outstanding effort, finishing 10th overall with a season-best 4:51.84 which bested her previous mark of 5:00.92. In the women's 100-butterfly, junior Lillian Lowenthal powered her way to second overall, posting an outstanding time of 58.21 – a season-best mark that outpaced her previous mark of 1:01.62. Also finishing strong was sophomore Alejandra Robins, whoe posted a time of 59.20 to take sixth and best her previous season-high time of 1:01.41.

In the 200-free, Ecklund took third overall, posting a time of 1:56.95 – a season-best once again to outpace her previous mark of 1:58.74. Myers also finished well, taking 18th in 1:59.96 – a season-best time. The men's event was paced by senior Max White, who took second overall in a time of 1:43.28. That mark was a season-best, eclipsing the previous time of 1:46.87.

Junior Robbie Perot also had a strong 200-free performance, taking fifth in 1:44.29, while Glazebnik was 12th in 1:45.59 – a season-best by nearly five seconds (1:50.03).

The women's 400-medley relay saw Ecklund, Robins, Lowenthal and Whittington combine to take fourth in a time of 4:01.73, while the men's event saw Li, Pham, White and Glazebnik earn eighth in 3:36.35.

Following the conclusion of the morning swimming session, the divers took center stage. For the Brewers, that was senior Sam Fujikawa and rookie Jacob Cerone on the 1-meter board. Fujikawa was 13th overall with a score of 315.65 points. Cerone was 15th overall with a score of 281.50 points.

Saturday's evening session of swimming opened with Lowenthal taking third overall in the 200-butterfly with a season-best time of 2:10.62 (previous: 2:15.43). Robins was seventh in a season-best time of 2:12.67 (previous: 2:16.35), while Myers was eighth with a time of 2:13.67 – also a season-best (previous: 2:18.14).

In the men's 200-fly, White powered his way to fourth overall in a season-best time of 1:54.67, obliterating his previous mark of 2:02.07.
The women's 100-backstroke saw victory for Ecklund, who touched the wall in a time of 57.62 – a season-best mark (59-54 – previous). Quintana was close behind, earning third in a season-best mark of 59.02 (previous: 1:00.70). The men's event saw Li take 27th in 57.46.
Pham was 14th overall in the 100-breaststroke, posting a season-best time of 1:00.51 (previous: 1:01.54).

The final events of the day saw the women's relay take fifth overall in the 800-free relay. Comprising the foursome was sophomore Alanna Muello, Myers, Quintana and Ecklund who posted a time of 8:02.82. On the men's side, the group of Glazebnik, junior Jason Albaum, Perot and White earned third overall, touching the wall in a time of 7:01.12.

Through 30 events, the Vassar women are fourth among 11 competing teams, trailing Geneseo (1278), Ithaca (927.5) and the University of Rochester (756), while posting 610 points. The men's side has Vassar in fifth among the 10 competing teams. Geneseo leads the way (1461), followed by Ithaca (1037.5), University of Rochester (792), Shippensburg (425) and the Brewers (415.5).

Action at the Bombers Invitational concludes on Sunday with events kicking-off at 9am.