EAST MEADOW, NY – The NJIT men's swimming and diving team captured its first-ever ECAC Championship in program history at the ECAC Winter Championships, which concluded Sunday at the Nassau County Aquatic Center.

The Highlanders finished first among 11 men's teams in the three-day event and the gap between NJIT and second-place Pace (1,436 points-to-1089.50 points, 346.50 points) was the largest between any two consecutive spots in the team standings.

Manhattan, one of four NCAA Division I teams in the meet along with NJIT,  finished in third place with 908.50 points. The other two NCAA Division I programs in the meet were St. Francis Brooklyn (717.50 points; 5th overall) and American (66 points; 11th overall). Pace was the top team among the three NCAA Division II teams and Arcadia (612.50 points; 6th overall) was the leading team among four NCAA Division III teams.

NJIT sophomore Scott Quirie was honored as Swimmer of the Meet, while Michael Lawson (BS '10, MS '11), coach of the Highlanders and a former NJIT swimmer as an undergraduate, was named Coach of the Meet.

During the third and final day of competition Quirie broke yet another NJIT school record in the 200 IM finishing first with a time of 1:53.70.

The 400 freestyle relay team of freshman Edward Parks, junior Maxim Tillman, junior Michael Sungurov and senior Brian Capozzola placed first and broke the NJIT school record, finishing in 3:07.23.

In the 500 freestyle, senior Richard Seffrin placed first, finishing in 4:43.14, while Capozzola placed first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.77.

The 400 medley relay team of Quirie, freshman Alex Danielson, sophomore Collin Moore and Parks finished in second place, swimming in 3:31.26.

"I could not be prouder of my team and how they competed this weekend," said head coach Lawson. "It was truly a team effort and all of their hard work is paying off this season."

The Highlanders will take a long break from competition, with the next action slated for January 9 at the FIU Relays, hosted in Miami by Florida International University.

For updates and to follow the NJIT Men's Swimming & Diving team, please visit www.NJITHighlanders.com, like the team on Facebook, www.facebook.com/njitswimming, or follow the team on Twitter and Instagram, @njitswimdive.