KINGSTON, R.I. - The Norwich University men's swimming & diving team saw action against premier Div. I and II competition from around the region this past weekend, taking to the pool for the four-day Harold Anderson Invitational, hosted by the University of Rhode Island from Thursday, Nov. 21 through Sunday, Nov. 24.

In a six-team field, the Cadets finished in sixth with 122 points, just 13 points back of fifth-place Assumption University.  Wagner College proved victorious over the event, racking up 856 points, narrowly edging past Providence College's 842.5 tally.  College of the Holy Cross and the University of Maine-Orono rounded out the field in third and fourth, respectively.

The Cadets enjoyed an assortment of top-10 finishes throughout the four-day showcase, between relay and individual events.  Norwich kicked off Thursday with an eighth-place performance in the 200 medley relay, as Adrian Riendeau (Ridgecrest, Calif.), Will Thompson (Downingtown, Pa.), Drew Bylow (Monroe, Mich.), and Kristian Adlianitski (Cheshire, Conn.) touched the wall in 1:35.93, topping foes from University of Maine, Providence, and Assumption.

That same quadruplet, in a different order, earned Norwich its next top-10 finish in the 200 freestyle relay, swimming a 1:27.55 to come in ninth.  Thompson gave the Cadets their first individual top-10 performance in the 100 breaststroke, coming in eighth on 1:00.55.

Bylow, Thompson, and Adlianitski returned to the pool for another relay event, alongside Arthur Abrams (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.), for a 10th-place showing in the 400 medley relay with a 3:34.82 effort.

Adlianitski provided the Cadets the best performance of the four-day event, making Norwich history in the 100 freestyle.  During preliminaries, he broke the school's record time of 46.45, set by his older brother Martin Adlianitski (Cheshire, Conn.) earlier this year, by just .1 seconds.  He took to the pool later in the day for the finals and shattered his own mark, setting the program's new 100 freestyle record in 46.21 while finishing fourth, narrowly surpassing the University of Maine's Julian Lapietra by .4 seconds.

Bylow, Riendeau, Thompson, and Adlianitski closed the affair with Norwich's final top-10 performance, checking in at 10th in the 400 freestyle relay on 3:14.02.

LEADERS:

• 200 Yard Medley Relay
  • Adrian Riendeau (Ridgecrest, Calif.), Will Thompson (Downingtown, Pa.), Drew Bylow (Monroe, Mich.), Kristian Adlianitski (Cheshire, Conn.)
    • 8th, 1:35.93
• 500 Yard Freestyle
  • Drew Bylow
    • 23rd, 4:59.34
• 200 Yard IM
  • Adrian Riendeau
    • 18th, 2:00.90
• 50 Yard Freestyle
  • Kristian Adlianitski
    • 15th, 21.61
• 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
  • Kristian Adlianitski, Drew Bylow, Adrian Riendeau, Will Thompson
    • 9th, 1:27.55
• 100 Yard Butterfly
  • Arthur Abrams (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.)
    • 21st, 54.73
• 200 Yard Freestyle
  • Kristian Adlianitski
    • 15th, 1:45.09
• 100 Yard Breaststroke
  • Will Thompson
    • 8th, 1:00.55
• 100 Yard Backstroke
  • Adrian Riendeau
    • 11th, 54.16
• 400 Yard Medley Relay
  • Drew Bylow, Will Thompson, Arthur Abrams, Kristian Adlianitski
    • 10th, 3:34.82
• 200 Yard Backstroke
  • Drew Bylow
    • 15th, 1:59.69
• 100 Yard Freestyle
  • Kristian Adlianitski
    • 4th, 46.21
• 200 Yard Breaststroke
  • Arthur Abrams
    • 20th, 2:20.58
• 200 Yard Butterfly
  • Andrew Clark (Acworth, Ga.)
    • 14th, 2:00.30
• 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
  • Drew Bylow, Adrian Riendeau, Will Thompson, Kristian Adlianitski
    • 10th, 3:14.02

The Cadets will await to see if any qualified team members will return to the CSCAA Open Water Nationals in Miami, Fla., scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 15.  Last year's CSCAA Open Water Nationals were canceled due to stormy conditions.  The full men's and women's swimming & diving teams will take to the pool next calendar year for Senior Day, when the Cadets host Elms College and Herkimer County Community College on Saturday, Jan. 11, in an 11:00 a.m. dual meet at Goodyear Pool.