The Vermont swimming and diving team won 14 out of 16 events to earn a 215-84 victory over Central Connecticut State and a 48-9 win over Merrimack, as the Catamounts collected a pair of wins Saturday at Jack Suydam Natatorium. Head coach Gerry Cournoyer captured his 100th and 101st career victories with Vermont.
Cournoyer now has 101 victories as UVM's head coach since taking over the program in 2000. He becomes the first coach in program history to reach the 100-win milestone. Cournoyer has posted 205 total wins in his coaching career after amounting 104 between Lycoming College and Bridgewater State prior to UVM. "I'm very excited to reach this milestone with such a great program. I'm glad to be a part of what the student-athletes have accomplished during my tenure," commented Cournoyer.
Sophomore Christa Weaver paced the Catamounts with three individual victories on the afternoon. She posted first-place finishes in the 50 (24.05), 100 (52.78) and 200 (1:55.27) freestyle events, while nine other Catamounts collected one individual victory apiece for a balanced team effort.
Freshman Sarah Mantz won the 500 free in 5:13.50 and Taylor Slone clocked in at 10:48.24 in the 1000 free, as the Catamounts earned a sweep in the freestyle events. Vermont also dominated the backstroke and butterfly events, posting sweeps in both of those strokes as well. Claire Rutscher won the 100 back (1:00.65) and Elena Melloni collected a victory in the 200 back (2:08.31), while Andie Blaser and Lauren Punger won the 100 and 200 fly in times of 59.88 and 2:10.00, respectively.
The Catamounts also registered the top three spots in the 200 IM, with Katie Adams and Ilsa Feierabend both touching the wall in 2:15.44 to tie for first-place. Punger finished in 2:17.65 to collect a third-place finish.
Vermont collected wins in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events to earn a sweep for the second time this season. Sophomore Maggie Preston posted a first-place score of 226.70 in the 1-meter and senior Rebecca Schreiber won the 3-meter diving with a score of 225.15. Preston and Samantha Russo placed 2-3 in the 3-meter with scores of 218.90 and 218.45, respectively.
The Catamounts also won both relay events at the meet. Rutscher, Eva Wimberley, Courtney Gray and Diane Brown combined to swim the 400 medley relay in 4:01.45 to score first-place. Rutscher also combined with Tori Frustaci, Celeste Beck-Goodell and Molly Condron to win the 400 free relay in 3:49.85.
Vermont has won four consecutive meets to improve to 4-4 overall on the season.
The Catamounts return home to host Bryant on Sunday (Nov. 17) at Forbush Natatorium at 1 p.m. Watch live video of the meet for free in HD via CatamounTV.com.
NOTES: The Catamounts collected the most event wins (14) at a meet this season … Vermont earned the top three places in seven different events … Weaver has swept the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles in two straight meets.
