Feb. 21, 2012

AMHERST, Mass. -

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The UMass men's and women's swimming and diving season will reach its peak this Wednesday as both the Minutemen and Minutewomen travel to Buffalo, N.Y. for the Atlantic 10 Championship. Held at Erie Community College, the meet will take place over four days starting Wednesday at 6:30 pm. The Minutemen under head coach Russ Yarworth have been selected to win their sixth consecutive conference championship while the women under head coach Bob Newcomb have been selected to finish third.

Last Year At A-10s
Last season the Minutemen captured their thirteenth A-10 title finishing with a score of 764.5, while the Minutewomen took third with a score of 397.5.

Yarworth was named A-10 Coach of the Year for the twelfth time, while diving coach Mandy Hixon was named A-10 Diving Coach of the Year for both the men and the women. UMass swept the yearly diving awards as Jason Cook was named Men's Diver of the Year and Molly Elkins received the honor on the women's side.

The Minutemen picked up seven individual gold medals and three gold medals in the relays. Though the women were only able to capture one gold medal they set seven school records over the four days. The lone gold came in the women's one-meter dive, in which Elkins came out victorious with a score of 251.80.

UMass In The Rankings
The UMass men's swimming and diving team has been ranked No. 17 in the TYR/CSCAA Division I Mid-Major Rankings. The Minutemen move up from the five spots from the last set of rankings. The Minutewomen sit just outside the top-25. The Mid-Major rankings use an objective point system to compare teams' relative strength in a traditional dual meet lineup as submitted by participating teams. The ranking is available to those institutions that a) are not members of a BCS conference or Mountain West Conference, or b) provide fewer than one-half of the allowable scholarships under the NCAA rules. Teams must have submitted entries within the first two polling periods to be eligible for the final ranking. Of UMass' opponents this season only Boston University (No. 21), Army (No. 13) and Dartmouth (No. 24) have cracked the top-25.

Freshman Making A Splash
This season both the men and women have had standout freshman make splashes in the Atlantic 10.

Hao Luong and Michael Glenn both have top-five times and have been named Atlantic 10 Rookies of the Week a combined seven times; two for Luoung and five for Glenn.

Zoe Judd and Katie Arnott have top-five times in the A-10 and have a combined four A-10 Rookies of the Week. Arnott has received the honor once and Judd has received it three times.

Regular Season Recap
The Minutemen finished the year with a record of 4-2-1 in dual-meets with wins coming against Fordham, Bryant, Binghamton and Stony Brook. The men fell to Army and Yale and tied Boston University in the season-opener. The Minutemen finished fourth at the Terrier Invitational, first at the Rhode Island Invitational and second at the Dartmouth Invitational.

The women finished with a record of 3-4 in dual-meets with wins coming against Army, Binghamton and Stony Brook. They fell to Boston University, Bryant, Fordham and Northeastern. The Minutewomen took fourth in the Terrier Invitational and second in the Rhode Island and the Dartmouth Invitational.