Oct. 17, 2009

Complete Results

The UMass men's and women's swimming and diving teams split in their season-opener against Boston University Saturday afternoon at Joseph P. Rogers pool. The men won a thrilling meet by a final of 153-147, while the women were knocked off 175-118.

A close meet between the two men's sides saw BU with a three point edge over the Minutemen heading into the final event of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay, with the winner of the event also taking victory in the meet. The relay team of Chris Howard, Trevor Ziegler, Pete Sacco and Juan Moliere put together a time of 1:24.01, beating the Terrier team of Arik Seiler, Matthew Rickett, Daniel Kempf and Jackson Hill by just .12 seconds. The relay was close throughout, and BU held a slight lead going into the final leg, as Moliere and Hill entered the pool. Moliere was able to take the advantage in the final stretch, and just barely out-touched Hill to give UMass the win in the relay and the meet, moving the team's record to 1-0 on the year.

Moliere also grabbed victories in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle, registering times of 21.32 and 47.27 respectively. Joey Sbordon also had a big day, winning three different events including the 1000-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle. Sbordon's had a dramatic win of his own in the 200, putting together an impressive final 50 yards to comeback and beat Seiler with a time of 1:42.94.

In diving, Jason Cook came up with a big win to open the day in the one-meter, finishing with a score of 295.12. UMass claimed the first, third, fourth, and fifth spots in the one-meter diving, with John Clark, Adam Duffield and Conor Dunn all having strong days. Cook, Duffield, Clark and Dunn also took the second through fifth spots respectively in the three-meter diving event.

The women put up a tough battle against a very good Terrier team. Hannah Swift and Molly Elkins had solid days on the diving board, with Swift taking second place in the one-meter diving with a score of 213.52, just edging Elkins who finished third with a score of 213.37. Swift also finished in second in the three-meter diving competition.

Freshman Amina Meho was impressive in her first collegiate action, taking first in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 53.31. Elizabeth Walsh also helped in the scoring with a pair of top-three finishes, grabbing second in the 200-yard freestyle and third in the 200-yard backstroke. Meho and Walsh also helped the 200-yard freestyle relay team to a second place finish along with Jennifer Corriveau and Sarah Kanellas, as they came in with a time of 1:39.14. Corriveau also finished second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:00.57.

Rachel Borden notched a second place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.84, swimming for the first time with the Minutewomen after missing last year due to an injury. Meghan Nowak finished right behind Borden in the breaststroke with a time of 1:09.59, as UMass claimed second and third place in the event.

Both teams will be back in action next weekend when they travel to West Point to take on Army at 2 p.m.