Nov. 20, 2008

Amherst, Mass. - After a week off, UMass men's and women's swimming and diving will return to the pool as they head to Boston to compete in their first invitational meet of the season. The Terrier Invitational will be hosted by BU and held at Competition Pool beginning Friday and running through Sunday. There will be nine teams total at the Terrier Invitational over the weekend, the men's team will face Boston College, Boston University, Maine, Holy Cross and Yale while the women will compete against the same five teams as well as Wagner, Central Conn. State, Northeastern, and New Hampshire.

Looking for win number three
The men's swimming and diving team combined for a first-place finish in last year's Invitational, racking up 1216 points over the weekend. Last year's first-place finish marked the second time the Minutemen won the Invitation as they were led by then-freshman Brian Schmidt. Schmidt finished the weekend with two individual wins and two second-place finishes as he was the most consistent point-earner for the Minutemen. Junior Juan Moliere, senior Nate Bromage, and junior Mike Berthaume also added top finishes in the 100 free (46.26), 100 fly (49.76), and the 200 fly (1:53.64) respectively.

The Minutemen also earned a lot of their points in the relay competitions as they finished in first-place in all four relay events.

Fantastic Freshmen
Freshmen distance swimmer Joey Sbordon and diver Jason Cook will head to Boston to compete for the first time in the Terrier Invitational and the first invitational competition of their careers so far. Though the men's team will be looking to their veteran leaders for top finishes and big points in this weekend's meet, they will also expect big thing from these two freshmen. Both had already earned A-10 Rookie of the Week honors for their outstanding performances while also remaining unbeaten in at least one of their individual events thus far this season.


Sbordon, a Franklin, Mass., native has competed individually in four different events so far this season but has swam the 1000, 500, and 200 freestyle events the most. The freshman remains unbeaten in the 1000 and 500 free events and had placed only as low as second, once in the 200 free. The Minutemen will look for Sbordon to keep to his winning ways individually while also contributing in the various relay events as well.

Cook too has an unbeaten streak of his own in his first season of collegiate competition. The Amherst, Mass. native has yet to give up the top spot in the three-meter dive. He has finished first in the event in all four meets so far this season including the first meet of the season against BU. Similar to his teammate and classmate, Cook has only seen second-place once this season as he finished second in the one-meter dive during his first career dive against BU. Since then he hasn't looked back and has dominated both dives every time out.

Last Time Out
Both the men's and women's swimming and diving teams had a weekend off after four straight dual meets to prepare for the Terrier Invitational. The last time the two teams competed, both notched their third victory of the season over Binghamton on the road.

The women were led by junior Elizabeth Walsh and freshman Kayla Tegeler as both brought home two individual wins. Walsh finished first in the 100 back and 100 free while Tegeler notched first in the 1000 free and 200 fly.

Senior Karen Upperco returned to the board also dominated for the Minutewomen as she took first in both the diving events with teammates Sarah Horstmann and Anne Fogerty traded second and third-place finishes in both events.

The Minutemen were led by senior captain Nate Bromage and junior Mike Berthaume as they were both top finishes and the top point earners for the men. Freshman Joey Sbordon also added two individual wins for the Minutemen, placing first in the 1000 and 500 free events while junior Juan Moliere added a top finish in the 100 free.

Freshman Jason Cook continued his winning streak as we finished first in both of the diving events beating his next competitor by 15 points in the three-meter and 35 points in the one-meter dive.