How do you improve on a championship season?
Well, technically, you can’t. After all, the ultimate goal of any athletic team is to bring home that championship trophy. However, the Massachusetts men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are looking to do the next best thing to improving on last year’s Atlantic 10 title-winning campaigns: duplicating the feat.
The Minutemen and Minutewomen are both poised to make another run at a conference championship behind a strong mix of upperclassmen and solid contributions from the younger members on both sides. Despite losing a fair amount of firepower, both UMass squads will be ready and able to defend their crowns.
“We graduated some pretty significant kids last year, so I’m pleased with the way the team has come together to overcome that,” Men’s Head Coach Russ Yarworth said.
The Minutemen participated in two meets over the winter break, as they first traveled to Kingston, R.I. on Jan. 12 to take part in the Rhode Island Invitational. UMass emerged victorious in the four-team affair, scoring 538 points to best Dartmouth (508), LaSalle (362), and host URI (330). A troika of juniors paved the way for the Maroon and White, led by co-captain Rob Bellamy, who took first in the 200-yard free with a time of 1:47.33. Fellow juniors Justin Houck and Peter Tawczynski also took home individual glory, as Houck burned the competition with a win in the 200-yard back (1:55.52), and Tawczynski blew through the water to claim victory in the 200-yard breast (2:12.37).
Other highlights for the Minutemen included freshman Dylan Smith’s individual win in the 200-yard fly (1:56.19), and sophomore Logan Alomar’s triumph in the one-meter dive competition.
However, the team was not as fortunate in the win column on Jan. 19, as Maryland-Baltimore County was able to travel to Amherst and take a 174-126 decision. Alomar, however, performed spectacularly in the diving portion of the meet, as he swept both the one-meter and three-meter diving competitions. The top swimming indvidual performances came from Houck, who claimed first in the 100-back, and Smith, who bested the Retrievers with a victory in the 200-yard fly.
Nevertheless, Yarworth was bothered little by the setback against UMBC. He maintains that every meet until the end of the season is merely preparation for the most crucial step.
“Dual meets are important, but they’re not the ultimate goal,” Yarworth said. “The ultimate goal, obviously, is to win the Atlantic 10 championship.”
The team is well on their way to doing so, even though they have relied heavily on underclassmen performances over the year. However, Yarworth has been delighted with the role his junior class has taken in becoming the leadership the team has needed. The Minutemen have had zero seniors on their squad for the majority of the year, and Yarworth mentioned swimmers such as Bellamy, Chad Arnold, and Thomas Keane in providing that leadership. Moreover, he has been happy with how his freshman and sophomores have stepped it up, including Smith, who is someone Yarworth has been “greatly pleased with his improvement.” The freshman out of Silver Spring, Md. has been a solid performer in the fly events over the course of the season.
However, the Maroon and White did receive some good news recently, as Yarworth has added the first senior to his team, Carlos Ramos, who Yarworth also coaches on the water polo squad.
“Carlos is finally the sprinter that we have needed to fill the sprinting corps,” Yarworth said.
With only two meets remaining before the Atlantic 10 championships, including last Saturday’s meet against Rutgers, the Minutemen are making final preparations for the conference finals which will be held in Buffalo, N.Y. during the fourth weekend in February. Yarworth believes the men’s competition will come down between UMass, and St. Bonaventure, but he feels that they stand in a good position right now.
“[The team] has done everything I’ve asked them to do,” Yarworth said.
On the women’s side of the pool, the Minutewomen also were involved in the Rhode Island Invitational over the winter break, and like the Minutemen, they showed why they are a force to be reckoned with in the Atlantic 10. The Maroon and White equaled their male counterparts with a first-place finish in the meet, dominating conference foes URI (325) and LaSalle (270) with a score of 435 points. Senior Becky Hunnewell led the charge by sweeping the backstroke events, winning the 100-yard event in 1:00.64 and the 200-yard in 2:07.43. Other individual winners for the Maroon and White included junior Molly Buckley sprinting to victory in the 50-yard free, and sophomore Christen Dexter in the 200-yard breast. Junior Kate Allery was a double-winner as she claimed first place in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events.
However, the Minutewomen suffered the same fate as the men’s team did against UMBC, succumbing to the Retriever tidal wave in a tightly contested meet, 157-143. Highlights for UMass included junior Lizzy Boyle’s strong day in which she finished first in the 50-yard free, as well as being a member of the winning 200-yard and 400-yard free relays. Allery continued her strong season as well, as she again flipped and twisted her way into first in both the one-meter and three-meter dives.
The Minutewomen have had a few more struggles in the dual meets this year, as they entered last Saturday’s meet with the Scarlet Knights with a record of 4-4. Still, the team will still have enough power and experience to contend, as they returned 24 members from last year’s championship squad.
Women’s Head Coach Bob Newcombe was unavailable at press team.
