Over a grueling three-day stretch, the Massachusetts swimming and diving teams came up big at one of their most important meets of the season, finishing third at the Terrier Invitational in Boston on Sunday.
The men finished behind host Boston University and Boston College and ahead of Yale, Drexel and Holy Cross. The Minutemen took one gold medal in the event, as freshmen Derek Hursch, Chris Inglis and Troy Nichols teamed with junior Joey Sbordon to take the victory in the 800-meter free relay.
Other medal-winning finishes included a second place win in the 200 medley relay by senior Max Butler, sophomore Peter Sacco, senior Christopher Howard and senior Trevor Ziegler and second and third place finishes in the 100 backstroke. Butler took the sliver, while Ziegler finished just behind him in third.
Sbordon and Ziegler came up big throughout the weekend for UMass. Along with his contributions in the free-relay win, Sbordon claimed fourth in the 400 individual medley, came in fifth in the 1650 free, and eighth in the 200 backstroke. His time of four minutes, 3.44 seconds in the 400 IM was the seventh-fastest in UMass history. Billy Brown holds the overall record with a time of 3:56.48, which he posted in the 2000-01 season.
Ziegler took part in the gold medal relay, finished third in the 100 backstroke, third in the 100 free and fifth in the 400 free relay with Howard, Sacco and Hursch.
Hursch, who began the season by being named the Atlantic 10 Performer of the Week and A-10 Rookie of the Week for his performances against BU and Army, also performed well at the Terrier Invitational. He took part in the gold-medal win in the 800 free relay, and added a seventh-place finish in the 400 individual medley, an eighth place result in the 200 free and a fifth place finish in the 400 free relay.
Over the entire weekend, the Minutemen racked up 707 points, 94 behind winner BU.
The Minutewomen also put together a strong showing at the invitational, finishing behind BU and Northeastern and coming ahead of New Hampshire, Yale, BC, Drexel and Holy Cross.
Freshman Anna Cavanaugh was the star of the weekend for the women’s team as she finished third in the 200 free, added a fourth place finish in the 200 medley relay with seniors Jennifer Corriveau and Jessica Starosielec and junior Sarah Kanellas. Cavanaugh also took fourth in the 1000 free and finished up with a bronze medal in the 400 free relay with sophomore Amina Meho, senior Tavis Potter and Corriveau. Her time in the 200 free of 1.52.82 was the fifth-best time in UMass history behind Christa Narus, who holds the record at 1.51.04, clocked in the 2008-09 season.
Both teams will next return to action in two separate events. The men will defend Joseph Rogers Pool against Yale on Dec. 4, while the women’s team travels to Northeastern to square off against the Wildcats on the same date.
Ben Lambert can be reached at [email protected].
