2023 Gompei Invitational
- December 1-3, 2023
- Worcester, Massachusetts
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute Pool
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Day One Results
- Day One Livestream Replay
Day one of the 2023 Gompei Invite kicked off last night in Worcester, with Bryant University taking an early lead in the team scores for both the men and women. Seven events were contested during the first finals session: the 200 medley relay, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 100 butterfly, and the 800 freestyle relay.
An impressive livestream has been made available by Worcester Polytechnic Institute for the entirety of this meet. You can watch the day one finals session below (courtesy of the WPI Athletics YouTube Channel) and follow along live for all the other sessions via the same channel:
Women’s Recap
Bryant University opened the night with a strong showing in the 200 medley relay, taking the win by over 2 seconds. The quartet of Reagan Lord (26.04), Elayna Pistrin (29.83), Clara Steen (25.59), and Marcella Figueroa (23.70) combined for a time of 1:45.16.
The Bryant women continued to impress from there, winning every additional event on Friday’s program. Junior Reagan Lord (2:06.17) took the 200 IM, well shy of her best time but enough to win by over 3 seconds.
Elayna Pistrin finished runner-up to her teammate in the 200 IM (2:09.20) before going on to win the 200 breaststroke later in the session. She recorded a time of 2:20.87 en route to winning the event by nearly 2 seconds. Pistrin owns a lifetime best of 2:18.45 from the 2023 Northeast Conference Championships.
Marcella Figueroa put her sprinting consistency on display throughout the day on Friday. She qualified first for the 50 free final (23.93) before replicating the exact time en route to winning the championship final. She also split 23.70 anchoring the medley relay, right on par with her individual swims when factoring in reaction times.
Sophomore Makayla Pearce led a 1-2 punch for Bryant in the 500, with senior teammate Natalia Kiupers closely behind. Pearce took the win in a swift 5:00.18, with Kiupers touching in 5:02.30. Both swimmers were about 2 seconds shy of their all-time bests, but they are in a great position heading into championship season in a few months time.
Bryant had another 1-2 finish in the 100 fly, as senior Julia Stenhard (56.26) led the way ahead of teammate Ava Mustacciuolo (57.01). WPI sophomore Andrea Wu took 3rd in this one, finishing in 57.82.
Bryant finished the night with a wire-to-wire win in the 800 freestyle relay, as the foursome of Reagan Lord (1:58.42), Makayla Pearce (1:56.98), Charlee LeGallais (1:56.55), and Jill Carline (1:55.40) combined to post a time of 7:47.35.
In addition to the dominating performance by Bryant, there were many other swimmers who had great performances on the day. One of those athletes is Kay Shen, the junior from Springfield College. Shen opened up the day with a 23.38 freestyle split on the 2nd place Springfield medley relay, before posting a time of 24.03 to take 2nd in the individual 50 free. Shen is slated to compete in the 50 fly, 100 free, and 200 free later in the competition.
Men’s Recap
The Bryant men got off to a great start on the first night of action, winning six of the seven events. They got things rolling with a 1.5 second victory in the 200 medley relay, as the quartet of Griffin Lajoie (23.78), Gustav Persson (25.45), James Misto (21.98), and Conner Lofstrom (20.43) hit the touchpad in a time of 1:31.64.
WPI sophomore Christopher Smith posted a 1:53.60 to secure the 200 IM victory. Smith had a particularly strong butterfly leg, as he led the field by nearly a second at the end of the first 50. Benjamin Lee, a sophomore from Brandeis University, made it a close race down the back stretch finishing in 1:54.13 to place 2nd. This marks a massive best time for Lee, eclipsing his previous mark of 1:56.89 from over 2 years ago.
After splitting a sizzling 21.98 50 fly on Bryant’s victorious 200 medley relay earlier in the night, freshman James Misto took a convincing win in the 50 free (20.67). He would also win the 100 butterfly later in the session (48.87), making a big impact for Bryant at his first collegiate invitational.
Bryant junior Leo Luna showcased his endurance in the 500 freestyle, topping the field by over 7 seconds. Luna touched in 4:35.42 to grab the win, slightly slower than the 4:35.09 prelim swim he produced earlier in the day. Luna would later feature in Bryant’s victorious 800 freestyle relay, joining with Conner Lofstrom (1:42.75), Griffin Lajoie (1:44.19), and Chase Konstantakos (1:44.90) to produce a winning time of 6:56.20 in that race.
Perhaps the swim of the night would come in the form of the 200 breaststroke, where freshman Jason Yi took the win in a time of 2:02.53. Yi entered the meet seeded 4th (2:12.60), lowering his season best by over 10 seconds on the day. Yi also destroyed his previous best time of 2:05.62 from last January.
Team Scores (After Day One)
Women:
- Bryant University – 1135.5 points
- Sacred Heart University – 781 points
- Central Connecticut State University – 675 points
- Bentley University – 497 points
- Springfield College – 494 points
Men:
- Bryant University – 1285 points
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute – 1084 points
- Babson College – 639.5 points
- Bentley University – 567 points
- Roger Williams University – 506.5 points