The Massachusetts men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both had a successful three-day weekend at Boston University’s Terrier Invitational.
The Minutemen battled from behind on the final day to defeat the Terriers and take home their first title at the event in four years. The Minutewomen finished in second place and set a total of 10 new school records on their way to a nail-biting loss to Yale University.
The Minutemen came out with a chip on Sunday, the event’s final day. UMass started the morning session with a total of three top-five finishes in the 1650-yard freestyle, including the event winner, freshman Alessandro Bomprezzi with a time of 15:48:73.
Other top finishers for the Minutemen in the 1650-yard freestyle included freshman Kyle Vieira in third place with a time of 16:01.84 and junior Chris Inglis in fifth with a time of 16:16.38.
In the 200-yard backstroke the Minutemen had four of the top eight finishers. Hao Luong, the sophomore backstroke specialist, lead the way for UMass in third place with a time of 1:49.81. Trailing Luong were fellow UMass swimmers Ryan Bobianski, Evan Sholudko and Troy Nichols, who finished in sixth, seventh and eighth place respectively.
Another prominent event for the Minutemen on Sunday was the 100-yard freestyle. Senior swimmer Peter Sacco led the way for UMass with a fifth place and a time of 46.87. Teammates Tim O’Neill and Wiktor Karpinski finished right behind him in sixth and seventh place.
Luong, a Maiden native, earned the Minutemen more points in the nightcap, with a fourth place finish in the 200-yard butterfly event. Luong clocked in at a time of 1:52.05.
UMass returns to the pools on Dec. 1 when it hosts Ivy League foe Yale University at Joseph Rogers Pool.
As for the Minutewomen, sophomore Molly Smyth broke three school records over the weekend. On day one of the Terrier Invitational, she broke her own school record for the second time in the 500-yard freestyle, clocking in at 4:55.23.
She broke two more records on day three in the 1650-yard freestyle and the 1650 free event. The Connecticut native tapped in at a time of 16:51.37 in the 1650-yard freestyle, besting the previous school record by almost 20 seconds. In the 1650 free event, her time of 10:14.86 in the first 1000 yards topped her own previous school record set earlier in the weekend.
Freshman Jocelyn Yuen also set two records of her own this weekend. She set her first record when she finished first in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:05.25. She also went on to break the school record for the 200-yard butterfly with a second place finish and a time of 2:02.64.
For UMass, Zoe Judd may have turned in the most outstanding record-breaking effort of the weekend. The sophomore broke a school record in the 100-yard freestyle that lasted for 23 years. She broke former Minutewomen swimmer Michelle Leary’s record of 50.81, with a finishing time of 50.75.
The Minutewomen return to action on Dec. 1, when they travel back to Boston for a tournament with Northeastern.
Chris Corso can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Corso.
