PRINCETON, N.J. – Lehigh’s sprinters led the way as the Mountain Hawks returned to action with a solid first day at the Big Al Invite Friday at Princeton’s DeNunzio pool. Junior Demetri Karedis defended his title in the 50 yard freestyle, leading a contingent of four Mountain Hawks who finished in the top ten of the event.
The Mountain Hawks competed against Georgetown, Fordham, TCNJ and host Princeton in the two-day event which marked Lehigh’s first competition since defeating Colgate on October 27.
Last year Karedis set a school record of 20.33 in the 50 free, while on Friday he posted a time of 20.94 seconds to come out on top of a 54 swimmer field. Karedis was one of four Mountain Hawks to place in the top ten, with junior Chris Hoke finishing fifth, senior Frank Cuzzola finishing seventh and sophomore Martin Kendig finishing in tenth place.
That quartet also finished in second place in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:23.78.
Sophomore Danny Bennett finished in seventh place in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4:41.85, while freshman Jacob Hassel placed tenth in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 1:58.00.
In the final event of the day, Hoke, Hassel and Cuzzola teamed with sophomore Sean Brant to finish sixth in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:32.98.
The Big Al Invite will conclude with two sessions on Saturday. The morning session will begin at 9 a.m. with the final session will begin Saturday at 2 p.m.