On the night before Halloween, the Massachusetts swimming and diving teams had something scary in store for Stony Brook.
The men’s team earned a 184-114 victory, while the women’s team worked its way to a 159-141 win. After these victories, both teams have 2-1 records.
The freshmen led the way to victory for the men’s team. Derek Hursch continued his strong start to the season with individual wins in the 100-yard backstroke and 400-yard individual medley. He also teamed with senior Max Butler, senior Brian Schmidt and sophomore Eric Zeimetz to claim the 200-yard medley relay.
Hursch has started his season on quite a hot streak. He now holds an 8-0 record in singles events this season, and earned Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Performer of the Week honors for this week. He also took home this award after his performance in the season opener at Boston University.
The freshmen also contributed to the effort this weekend. Chris Inglis earned his first-ever first place finish in the 200-yard backstroke, and added a second-place result in the 200-yard freestyle, and a third-place mark in the 400-yard IM. Troy Nichols also snagged his first career victory with a win the 1000-yard freestyle.
On the diving side of things, senior John Clark, junior Conor Dunn and sophomore Alexander Merkulov all turned in strong performances. Clark earned the gold medal in the one-meter dive, with Merkulov and Dunn following respectively. The order was mixed up in the three-meter dive, as Dunn took first place, with Merkulov and Clark earning second and third.
Junior Chelsea Downing led the women’s squad, who finished first in both the 1000- and 500-yard freestyle, and added a second-place finish in the 400-yard IM. This kind of success is nothing new for Downing, who is the all-time UMass record holder in the 400-yard IM, the 1650 freestyle and the 500 freestyle.
Freshman Anna Cavanaugh also played a significant role for the Minutewomen. She claimed victory in the 100-yard butterfly, placed second in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle, and teamed with senior Jennifer Corriveau, senior Tavis Potter and sophomore Amina Meho to win the 200-yard freestyle relay as well. Cavanaugh started her UMass career strongly, as she came up with this strong performance just one week after earning her first collegiate victory at Army.
The women’s diving team also had a solid day. Sophomore Molly Elkins won the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. Junior Hannah Swift was right behind her all the way, as she earned second place in both events. Elkins and Swift finished first and second in these events for the second straight week.
The UMass swimming and diving teams will next return to the pool on Friday, Nov. 5 at Binghampton where the Minutemen and Minutewomen will face off with a team headed by coach Sean Clark, a UMass alumni.
Ben Lambert can be reached at [email protected].
