Feb. 17, 2007

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - Picking up where they left off, the Highlander men continued their quest for their best conference meet ever.

The men's 200 yard Medley Relay team of Marc Ubaldi, Rob Franc, Hayk Ekshian and Alan Roberts reached the championship final, repeating their accomplishment from the 200 yard Freestyle Relay. Their time of 1:41.85 broke the old school record set one year ago at the 2006 championships meet. In the evening's final the squad bettered their time to 1:41.60 and secured an eight place finish.

Marc Ubaldi recorded his best finish of the meet in the 200 yard Freestyle. Ubaldi's preliminary time of 1:51.68 bettered his school record and earned him a place in the consolation final. Improving his time to 1:51.16 in the evening final, Ubaldi finished in 16th place.

Next up for the Highlanders was Hayk Ekshian in the 100 yard Butterfly. Ekshian broke his school record with a time of :53.26 and earned a place in the championship final. In the evening final, he nearly equaled his time and finished in sixth place. The highest individual finish ever by an NJIT swimmer (last year, Ekshian finished in eight place in the same event), his accomplishment lasted less than 15 minutes.

NJIT's best event of the day came shortly after. The 100 yard breaststoke featured two Highlanders; senior Rob Franc and freshman Alan Roberts. While Franc captured the eight place spot, Roberts grabbed the silver medal and the highest ever finish by an NJIT swimmer. The 50 points earned by the Highlanders in the event thrust them into eighth place in the team competition. Roberts, who had set the school record earlier in the year, broke the record once in the preliminary heat and then again in the finals. His new record stands at: 57.43.

In the final event of the evening, Mike Lawson, Mike Finley, Steve Schreyer and Jim Paccioretti joined forces to add the NJIT point total with their 15th place finish in the 800 yard Freestyle Relay.

With two days completed, the Highlanders continue their hold on to their ninth place standing in the team competition. The day ranks as the best single day in the history of the program, with eight athletes scoring points, three athletes appearing in the championship finals and the highest finish in an individual event; Robert's second place in the 100 yard breaststroke.

(description courtesy of head coach Eric Rasmussen)