Bryant University Men and Women Win 2023 Gompei Invitational

2023 Gompei Invitational 

• December 1-3, 2023
• Worcester, Massachusetts
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute Pool
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Day One Results
• Day Two Results
• Day Three Results
• Livestream

The 2023 Gompei Invite concluded on Sunday night in Worcester, with Bryant University ending the competition atop both the men’s and women’s team standings.

Seven events comprised the final night of the competition: the 1650 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 IM, 200 butterfly, 50 breaststroke, and the 400 freestyle relay.

Women’s Recap

An exciting race unfolded in the 1650 freestyle to open the day, as a three-way battle ensued between Bryant sophomore Makayla Pearce, Bentley senior Emma Hapkiewicz, and Bryant senior Natalia Kuipers.

Kiupers took the race out hardest, leading at the 200 and 500 turns. Pearce began to make her move from there, taking the lead heading into the 1000 split and never looking back. She would finish the race 1st, recording a time of 17:17.18 in the process. Hapkiewicz, who was trailing Kuipers through the 1000, made a late charge to snag 2nd place (17:18.96). Kuipers fell to 3rd, clocking a respectable 17:20.61.

Splits Comparison

After winning the 50 freestyle (23.93) on night one, Bryant sophomore Marcella Figueroa completed the sprint free double by winning the 100 on Sunday. She hit the touchpad in 51.98, coming close to her best of 51.44 from the 2023 America East Conference Championships.

Figueroa would be a key contributor on Bryant’s winning 400 free relay squad to end the night, where she anchored her team to a convincing win (3:32.95). She teamed up with Jill Carline (52.94), Charlee LeGallais (52.70), and Elise Richardson (53.44) en route to the two second win.

Bryant junior Reagan Lord backed up her 100 back win from yesterday with a wire-to-wire win in Sunday’s 200 back. She hit the wall in 2:00.50, clearing the field by nearly 4 seconds. She owns a lifetime best of 1:56.67 from February of 2022.

Bentley’s Skyla Lang took the 100 IM win (1:00.49), slightly off the 59.75 she produced in prelims. Kendra Daily (1:01.12) and Ella Witteveen (1:01.86) took 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Bryant senior Julia Stenhard put on a show in the 200 fly final, hitting the touchpad in 2:04.85 to clear the field by over two seconds. Her mark checks-in just a few tenths shy of the 2:04.44 best time she put on the books at this meet last year.

After two runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, Springfield junior Nina Lamb finally got her individual one. She clocked 29.44 to win the 50 breaststroke, touching out 100 breast champion Rosemary Nieto (29.59).

Men’s Recap

Bryant junior Leo Luna was victorious in the 1650 freestyle, clocking 15:57.11 to clear the field by over 30 seconds. This marks the third individual win of the competition for Luna, who won the 500 on night one and won the 200 in a best time yesterday.

Conner Lofstrom, a junior at Bryant, grabbed his first individual win of the meet en route to winning the 100 freestyle (45.99). He took the win by nearly a full second, opening in a swift 21.96 through the first 50. Lofstrom would place 2nd in the 100 IM later in the session, touching in 52.51 to place 2nd behind Zackary Cheung (51.92) of Babson.

Griffin Lajoie showed off his backstroke skills in the 200 backstroke, where he posted a time of 1:50.78 to take the win convincingly. Lajoie, the Bryant junior who won the 100 back on Saturday, cleared the field by nearly three seconds.

A thrilling race unfolded in the men’s 50 breast, where Gustav Persson of Bryant and WPI senior Owen Krause went head-to-head down the back stretch. Persson got to the wall just 0.10 ahead of Krause, clocking 26.10 to Krause’s 26.20. Persson was a touch faster in prelims, where he touched in 26.00.

The only other individual event on the night was the 200 butterfly, where we saw a Bryant 1-2 finish. Junior Andrew Gamper led the way in 1:52.89 with teammate Tim Andrews hitting 1:54.23 for 2nd. Dylan Gourlay, a freshman at Roger Williams, hit the wall in a time 1:54.75 to snag 3rd. It was a great swim for Gourlay, as he eclipsed his best time in the process.

Final Team Scores

Women:

1. Bryant University – 3153.5 points
2. Sacred Heart University – 2639 points
3. Central Connecticut State University – 2277.5 points
4. Springfield College – 1601 points
5. Bentley University – 1257.5 points

Men:

1. Bryant University – 3276 points
2. Worcester Polytechnic Institute – 3188.5 points
3. Babson College – 2156.5 points
4. Bentley University – 1835 points
5. Roger Williams University – 1504.5 points