The Massachusetts swim and dive teams faced off against the Fairfield Stags in Fairfield on Saturday afternoon. The Minutewomen (1-7, 0-2 Atlantic 10) earned their first victory of the season in a hard-fought match by the score of 159-141 against the Lady Stags (5-3). The Minutemen (0-5) put up a valiant effort themselves but ultimately lost to the Stags (5-3).
This event was UMass’ first short course meter event since 2019, in which it also faced off against Fairfield. Since it was a short course meter event, all times recorded were marked as personal bests for all competitors in the meet.
The UMass women’s team finished the afternoon with eight gold medals and 26 top three finishes overall. The Minutemen achieved six gold medals and 19 top three finishes for the afternoon.
Sophomore Sophie Porter started off the afternoon strong with a second-place finish in the 800-freestyle, recording a 9:12.53 time, and junior Lexi Alexen finishing third with a 9:14.20 time. Senior Lauren Stott secured first place in the 200 butterfly with a 2:18:55 time, while graduate Ashley Calderon timed 2:19.64 for second place. Calderon also had a first-place finish in the 100 butterfly, recording a time of 1:01.91. Stott recorded a time of 1:02.52 in the 100 butterfly which was good enough for second place.
In the 100 backstroke, graduate student Bri Williams stood out in first place with a time of 1:02.58. Williams and freshman Maria Grishaeva finished third and fourth respectively in the 200 backstroke. Freshman Kendall Gilbert stood out in the 200 breaststroke, finishing first with a time of 2:35.10.
The Minutewomen medaled in multiple team events in the afternoon. A 400-freestyle relay team consisting of senior Anna Kwon, freshman Courtney Tedesco, sophomore Diya Ackerman-Vallala and sophomore Beren Cakiroglu ended with a gold medal finish recording a 3:52.59 time. A 200-freestyle team with Calderon, Williams, sophomore Lindsay Burbage and freshman Elizabeth Lahmann finished second with a 1:55.70 time.
Over on the men’s side, sophomore Jude Boukarroum had the Minutemen coming out the gate firing, finishing first in the 800-freestyle with a 8:23.68 time. Freshman Cam Wright placed third with a 8:35.42 time.
The UMass men’s team finished first in both the 100 and 200 butterfly. Senior Grant Beebe captured first in the 100 butterfly with a 54.67 time. Sophomore Aydin Erkan finished first in the 200 butterfly at 2:03.05. Freshman Nate Derby placed in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, finishing second in the 100 backstroke with a 1:04.53 time. In the 200 backstroke Derby touched the wall first with a time of 2:19.77.
In the 400 freestyle Boukarroum, freshman Daniel Strumidlo and Wright finished second, third and fourth respectively on the day. The 200-medley relay saw a team including Derby, Beebe, junior Sammy Quigg and senior Beau Bengston end up in second with a time of 1:42.85.
The diving boards featured a clean sweep of first, second, third, and fourth place in both the one-meter and three-meter for the Minutewomen.
Freshman Danielle Guerin made history and set a personal best of 297.98 in the one-meter, good for the fourth highest score recorded in UMass history for the women’s team. Junior Salem Howes and freshman Khrystyna Yaremyn were second and third respectively. Junior Shreeya Sinha gold-medaled with a 301.88 score in the three-meter event. Yaremyn and Guerin filled out the top three finishing second and third.
On the Minutemen’s side, junior Andrew Bell and freshman Alex Kreidler took first and second place respectively in both the one-meter and three-meter events. Bell continued his dominance on the boards totaling 342.98 in the one-meter and 391.05 in the three-meter. Kreidler recorded a 294.98 one-meter score and a 297.23 three-meter score.
Both teams return to conference play with a home meet versus Fordham for the team’s senior day. It will take place on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 1:00 p.m.
Irwin Mburu can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter/X @IrwinMburu.
