Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

UMass downs BU at in season opener

Sometimes all it takes is twelve-hundredths of a second.

Facing Boston University, the Massachusetts men’s swimming and diving teams pulled out a 153-147 victory this weekend, finishing on a 200-yard freestyle relay time of 1:24.01 – just .12 seconds ahead of the Terriers.

Senior Juan Moliere anchored the Minutemen relay squad that also included juniors Chris Howard and Trevor Ziegler and freshman Pete Sacco. Arik Seiler, Matthew Ricket, Daniel Kempf and Jackson Hill swam for the Terriers.

Down by three points going into the race, Howard, Ziegler and Sacco kept the Minutemen slightly behind BU until Moliere hit the water for the final leg.

Moliere, winner of the day’s 50- and 100- yard freestyle (21.32 and 47.27, respectively), pulled ahead in the final stretch to out-touch Hill, winning the dual meet for UMass.

In order to get in position for the last-race victory, several Minutemen made solid point contributions. Sophomore Joey Sbordon won the 200-yard freestyle over BU’s Seiler by coming from behind in the final 5 yards to notch a 1:42.94 victory. Sbordon also placed first in 1000-yard freestyle (9:49.41, just one second ahead of Terrier Tyson Slesnick) and 500-yard freestyle (4:47.90).

The Minutewomen, led by freshman Amina Meho’s first place 100-yard freestyle finish, lost 175-118.

Meho edged BU’s Maria McIntyre for a 53.31 victory in her first collegiate meet. She also swam to a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay with senior Elizabeth Walsh, junior Jennifer Corriveau and Sarah Kanellas.

Both Walsh and Corriveau also earned points in individual events. With a time of 1.00:57, Corriveau finished second in the 100-yard backstroke. Walsh placed third in the 200-yard backstroke (2:13.04) and second in 200-yard freestyle (1:56.72).

The second and third place finishers in the women’s one-meter dive were Minutewomen – sophomore Hannah Swift and freshman Molly Elkins, with scores of 213.52 and 213.37 respectively. Swift also took second in three-meter diving.

The men’s diving team contributed to their victory with four of the top five finishers in both events.

Sophomore Jason Cook beat BU’s Tanner Knorr by almost 30 points in the one-meter event, finishing with 295.12 points. Juniors John Clark and Adam Duffield notched third and fourth, while sophomore Conor Dunn took fifth. Knorr edged Cook in the three-meter event, however, followed by Duffield, Clark, and Dunn.

The Atlantic 10 preseason coach’s poll picked the men’s team to win its 12th conference championship this year.

The teams next travel to West Point, N.Y. to face Army this Saturday.

Daniel Herberholz can be reached at [email protected].

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  • J

    JimOct 21, 2009 at 9:40 pm

    Jason Cook won 3 meter by almost 70 points 314.25 to Knorrs 245.18

    error in typing shows 2451.18 BU sports page has been corrected to show that Knorr took 2nd on 1 meter and 3 meter.

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