The Massachusetts men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both had a tough test at Army’s Crandall Pool on Saturday, but only the women’s team could come through in the end, capturing a 151-149 win. The men, however, were not as fortunate as they struggled to keep up with the Black Knights, falling 177-112.
In their meeting at Joseph Rogers Pool last year, both the Minutemen and women put together impressive performances, pulling ahead of Army early and never looking back. The men cruised to a 184-116 win, while the Minutewomen also came away with a lopsided, 183-106 triumph.
Despite the success last season, UMass had a big challenge ahead, especially on the men’s side where the Black Knights began the meet at a perfect 3-0 on the season.
The men kicked things off with the 200-yard medley relay, where Army’s 1:34.20 finish just edged out the Minutemen’s foursome of reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Hao Luong, Peter Sacco, John Conway and Colin Mulcahy, which posted a 1:35.82 mark.
It didn’t get any better from there for UMass, as Joey Sbordon could not keep up with Black Knights freshman Casey Woudenberg in the 1,000-yard freestyle, as Woudenberg won the race by more than six and a half seconds. Following that event, Army continued to show its dominance in the 200-yard freestyle where the Black Knights took the top four spots, led by William Viana with a time of 1:42.22.
The Minutemen would finally get something to cheer about as freshman sensation Luong continued to shine for UMass just two meets into his young career. This time, it was a win in the 100-yard backstroke where Luong was pushed to the brink by Army’s Kenneth Yacynych, but prevailed in the end, beating Yacynych by a mere .09 seconds.
The Black Knights continued to blow through the Minutemen until Luong hit the pool again in the 200-yard backstroke. Luong would yet again give UMass life as his time of 1:53.34 was just enough get past Viana, who finished in 1:54.36.
“[Hao] has definitely been one of our best performers so far,” said UMass men’s coach Russ Yarworth. “He was trying to swim more like the way I taught him to and was successful with it so that made me happy.”
Army would continue to put a stranglehold on the Minutemen from there, taking the next three events. Although UMass would come away with wins in the one-meter diving, 200-yard individual medley and the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Black Knights proved to be too much for the Minutemen, running away with the 177-112 win.
“We went through one of our heaviest training cycles this week, which may have left us a little fatigued coming into the meet,” added Yarworth. “[Army] came in well prepared and was locked in and ready to go.”
“We just ran into a team that was better than us on that particular day,” Yarworth said.
The Minutewomen, however, fared much better in their side of the event. Despite losing the 200-yard medley relay by less than a second, UMass was able to bounce back strong in its next two events.
Molly Papish led the way in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:46.36, while Anna Cavanaugh’s 200-yard freestyle time of 59.50 bested Army’s Kristen Barta’s mark of 1:00.89.
From there, the Black Knights went on a tear, winning the next four events until the Minutewomen’s Michaela Butler put that streak to a halt in the one-meter diving. Butler’s mark of 237.03 led the pack and gave UMass the boost it was searching for.
After coming up short in the 200-yard backstroke, Katie Arnott would respond for the Minutewomen in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:23.74, which put all trailers to shame as runner-up Samantha Allen could only muster up a 2:28.13 mark. Papish would respond as well in the 500-yard freestyle, where her time of 5:13.82 was good for first place.
Thanks to a win in the 100-yard butterfly by Army’s Alyssa Tran by nearly four seconds, UMass needed to deliver in each of the final three events if it hoped to leave West Point victorious. The Minutewomen would do just that as clutch performances in the end would seal the deal for UMass.
It started in the three-meter diving where Butler would yet again be the front-runner, posting an unmatched, 217.08 mark. Following that performance would be another strong showing from Arnott in the 200-yard individual medley, who led the way with a time of 2:10.04. Capping things off in the finale for the Minutewomen would be the team of Cavanaugh, Papish, Zoe Judd and Amina Meho in the 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing with a time of 3:33.70 to give UMass the victory by a score of 151-149.
Up next for both the men’s and women’s teams is Stony Brook, which will pay a visit to Joseph Rogers Pool on Saturday with the meet set to start at 1 p.m.
Nick Canelas can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at MDC_Canelas.
