The Massachusetts swimming and diving teams will get a feel for the postseason when they head to New Haven, Conn. Saturday to compete in the three-day Nutmeg Invitational.
While the swimmers compete in Connecticut, the divers will travel to Princeton, N.J. for the Princeton Diving Invitational.
“This weekend is very important, because we have such a young team,” men’s coach Russ Yarworth said. “None of the freshmen have ever swam this format before, so hopefully the Nutmeg will help them prepare for the A-10’s.”
Coming off a 156-138 point victory against St. John’s Oct. 22, the defending Atlantic 10 Champion Minutemen (3-0) will look to stay unbeaten against Yale, Central Connecticut, Fairfield, Sacred Heart and the University of Connecticut.
The Minutemen will look to Even Swisher to lead eight fellow freshmen in their tournament debut. Swisher was recently named the A-10 Rookie of the Week after taking gold in two events against St. John’s. Swisher won the 200 and 100-yard backstroke events with times of 1:52.93 and 53.40, respectively. He also swam a leg on the second-place 200-yard medley relay team.
“Right now [Swisher] is our top guy for the backstroke,” Yarworth said. “Last year we graduated the top two swimmers for backstroke in the conference, so it is very important that he stepped up.”Swisher followed in the footsteps of teammates Greg Chartier and Dylan Smith, who were honored as the A-10 Co-Rookie of the Week and A-10 Swimmer of the Week, respectively after the first two meets.
Smith and Chartier contributed in the victory over previously-undefeated St. John’s. Chartier took top honors in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:55.4.3, while Smith finished first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:50.81.
Senior Logan Alomar and junior Brandon Doane were handed the diving title, as the Red Storm did not enter any divers into the competition. Consequently, Alomar and Doane finished the day with season-highs in the one and three-meter diving events.
In the women’s competition, all diving points were forfeited to senior Joanna Walsh and sophomore Mary Jenkins. Jenkins posted a career-high 212.10 score in the one-meter event.
“Two years ago St John’s made the decision to drop diving and focus on the other events,” women’s coach Bob Newcomb said. The entire St John’s program will be eliminated at the end of this season.
On the women’s side, Massachusetts (1-2) will look to bounce back from a 157.5-136.6 point loss to St. John’s.
Despite victories from three different individuals, the Minutewomen were not able to topple a Red Storm team that finished eleventh in the Big East last season.
Senior captain Christen Dexter, who holds the school record in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, won the 200-yard breast with a time of 2:27.88 against St John’s
“The breaststroke is all about technique and timing, it has taken Christen a little while to get her timing down, but she is beginning to find her rhythm,” Newcomb said.
Sophomore Aimee Bourassa led the way in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:14.56. Teammate Kelly Hoffrage won the 100-yard free with a time of 54.47, before anchoring an undefeated Massachusetts 200-yard freestyle relay team.
Also on the winning relay team were freshman sprinters Nicole LeBarge, Liz Lovejoy and senior Megan Pittman.
“It will be interesting to see how we perform in a tournament setting, it will be a good opportunity to see how we manage swimming several events three days in a row,” Newcomb said. “We practice very hard throughout the week so we should be ready.”
