As projected at the beginning of the season, the Massachusetts men’s swimming and diving team took home its sixth consecutive Atlantic 10 Championship this weekend in Buffalo, N.Y.
In addition to the six straight titles, the Minutemen have claimed 14 of the 17 tournaments since the A-10 Championships began and 11 of the last 12 championships.
UMass tallied up a total of 693 points, which was 126 points better than the second place team St. Bonaventure. Trailing the Bonnies was Xavier (522), La Salle (417), Fordham (412), George Washington (401) and Saint Louis (342).
Over the weekend, the Minutemen grabbed a total of five gold medals, four coming in individual events and one coming in a relay.
Sophomore Chris Inglis was the recipient of two of those first-place finishes, as he carried the momentum of past swimming victories into the A-10s.
In the first event of the final day, the Minutemen grabbed the top two spots in the 1650-yard freestyle. Inglis led all swimmers with a time of 15:43.25. Right behind was senior Joey Sbordon, who touched the wall at 15:44.35.
Hao Luong, the other top underclassman of the Minutemen, had a memorable weekend of his own in the 200-yard backstroke event. The freshmen took first place in the event with a time of 1:46.81.
In the 800-yard free relay, the team of Sbordon, Erik Rennspiess, Troy Nichols and Inglis took home the gold with a time of 6:52.93. St. Bonaventure finished behind the Minutemen with a time of 6:53.24.
UMass freshmen Michael Glenn and Timothy Gladyshev also contributed, as they finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Women take fourth at A-10s
On the other side, the Massachusetts women’s swimming and diving team grabbed fourth place in the Atlantic 10 championships over the weekend. Richmond was the champion, totaling 751 points on the weekend.
The Minutewomen registered a total of 451 points, but trailed Richmond, Fordham (577) and La Salle (476). UMass finished ahead of Rhode Island (257), Duquesne (256), St. Bonaventure (249.5), Xavier (245), George Washington (233.5) and Saint Louis (174).
Diver Michaela Butler was the highlight performer for the Minutewomen at the championships. The junior took the gold medal for UMass in the one and three-meter events. She also earned the A-10 Most Outstanding Diver of the Year Award.
Butler won the three-meter dive with a score of 287.00. Her teammates Molly Elkins and Mary Atkinson also placed in the top five as Elkins took the silver with a score of 253.85. Atkinson dove to a fifth place finish with a score of 239.30.
In the 1650-yard freestyle, UMass’ Chelsea Downing snagged eighth place (17:19.82), Molly Papish finished in 12th place (17:32.13) and Sophie Hornby took 15th place (17:46.29).
Amina Meho led the way in the 100-yard freestyle for the Minutewomen as she touched the wall at a time of 51.23 for a fourth place finish. Behind her were teammates Zoe Judd and Anna Cavanaugh who finished in sixth and 13th, respectively.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team that consisted of Meho, Judd, Cavanaugh and Molly Smyth set a school record as they clocked in at 3:26.83 in the event, which placed them third.
In addition to Butler’s accolade, UMass coach Mandy Hixon was named the women’s Diving Coach of the Year.
Chris Corso can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Corso.
