The Massachusetts men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were victorious this weekend in their home meet versus Binghamton.
The Minutemen won by a score of 171-107. The women were dominant as well, defeating Binghamton, 182-117.
“I think it was a really good team effort. We had a lot of people step up,” UMass women’s coach Bob Newcomb said.
Among those who performed well were freshman Amina Meho, who was able to win the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:00:87. Fellow freshman Julie Maygar also emerged with a win in the 1000-yard freestyle.
The women were able to take both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke events. Junior Jessica Staroseilec earned first place in both the 100 and 200, and her teammates did well to keep up with her. In the 100, Rachel Borden came in second place, and Megan Nowak finished fourth.
Sophomore Hannah Swift earned first place in both the one and three meter diving events. Freshman Michaela Butler performed well, finishing right behind Swift in the one meter diving event.
On the men’s side, there were many strong performances as well.
Sophomore Joey Sbordon had a very strong showing, as he displayed his skills in the freestyle events. Sbordon was able to win the 200, 500 and 1000-yard freestyle events in impressive fashion.
The quartet of Chris Howard, Juan Moliere, Sasan Tehrani and Julian Mckean capped off the day with an attention-grabbing performance in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Moliere’s anchor performance made an impression on his head coach, as he was able finish the last 50 yards in 19.97 seconds.
“The stand out performer was Juan Moliere. He was lights out,” UMass men’s coach Russ Yarworth said. “You don’t see a kid go under 20 seconds in the 50. That’s blistering.”
Moliere also swept the sprints on Saturday, as he put forth dominant performances in the 50 and 100 freestyle meets.
Jason Cook was once again strong on the diving board, as he took first place in the one meter dive. His performance allowed him to remain undefeated in the young season. Adam Duffield also performed well on Saturday, as he came in second place in both the one and three meter events.
“It’s nice to be home in a very loud environment,” Newcomb said.
The energy could be seen from the sideline, as both teams rooted each other on throughout the day. That energy was imitated by a strong crowd that filled the gymnasium, as some alumni came to the meet to support their former team.
The meet also marked the return of Binghamton head coaches Sean Clark and Rueben Rappe to Joseph Rogers Pool. The two coaches are UMass alumni who had great careers as members of the swim team.
After four dual meets, both the men’s and women’s teams hold a 3-1 record.
Jeffrey Engmann can be reached at [email protected].
