Coming off two losses in its previous two meets against Boston University and Yale, the Massachusetts swim and dive teams look to bounce back as it goes on the road for the Terrier Invitational hosted by Boston University this weekend.
The invitational will be held from Friday until Sunday, featuring schools such as Boston University, Boston College, Georgetown, Fairfield and the Northeastern women’s team. Trials begin at 10 a.m. on all three days of the meet, and finals are at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Despite both the Minutemen (0-2) and Minutewomen (0-2) dropping their last two head-to-head meets, both have fared well in invitational style competition. The UMass men finished second at both the Colgate Invitational and Boston College Invitational earlier this season, while the UMass women finished first and second.
“I have big expectations,” coach Sean Clark said of the upcoming invitational. “One of the things that I say more frequently than anything else is ‘all I want is all you got.’ If we put it all out there, we’ll be competitive. We want to mix it up at a high level.”
The Terrier Invitational allows both the men’s and women’s teams to gain an early look at post season opportunities.
“[This meet is] of major importance, this meet is set up almost exactly like the A-10s,” Clark said. “Everybody has an opportunity to prove themselves, to each other, to coaches, and to the history of UMass swimming. This is a big event, we’re excited for it.”
After a season last year that was disrupted by the pandemic, this year has been much different with less cases and cancellations, allowing the teams to be in the pool together more often.
“Now we’re able to lean into every next event. Whereas, in the past couple years we didn’t know what was going to come at us in the next week,” Clark said. “We’ve been able to make more demands and be more certain that we’re going to be in the pool and able to train with each other. The expectations are higher now, we feel like we know what to expect.”
Several swimmers, both new and returning, look to build on their strong performances so far this season. For the Minutewomen, Megan Mitchell has been stellar in the backstroke events, winning the 200 back at both the Colgate Invitational and the meet against BU. She also placed first in the 100 back at the Boston College invitational.
On the men’s side, Jack Artis and Emerson Kiefer have dominated the breaststroke and freestyle events respectively this year. Artis won the 200 breast at the Colgate Invitational and the 100 breast against Yale. Kiefer took home the 200 free against BU and has been runner-up in the 500 free in three meets this season.
Both the Minutemen and Minutewomen have seen strong results from their newcomers, with freshmen Joe Tonna and Sammy Quigg both excelling in the 100 free at the Colgate Invitational, finishing first and second.
Graduate student Beatriz Olivieri, a transfer from Rollins College, has posted multiple wins this season. Olivieri won the 500 free at the Colgate Invitational and the 200 free at the Boston College Invitational.
“I’m pretty excited, we have a nice mix of new athletes to add to our pretty strong roster,” Clark said. “Every meet has been a nice step forward so we’re really looking forward to this next one.”
The meet is scheduled to begin Friday at 10 a.m. at Boston University.
Marco Lopez can be reached at [email protected].
