The University of Vermont swimming and diving team won nine events, swept the diving competition, and set a new pool record in the 400 free relay on its way to a 157-143 victory over last season's conference champions New Hampshire on Saturday at Forbush Natatorium.
"The outcome was definitely an exciting one for us. We felt the competition was going to be great," head coach Gerry Cournoyer said. "We really wanted to focus on the process and that's what our intention has been, and is going to be all year long."
The Catamounts swept both relay events for the second consecutive meet, capturing first place in both the 400 free relay and 200 medley relay. Andie Blaser, Courtney Gray, Sarah Mantz and Christa Weaver clocked in at 3:30.90 in the 400 free relay to break the old pool record by over two seconds. In the 200 medley relay, Claire Rutscher, Shannon Cowley, Gray and Weaver won the event in 1:48.02.
UVM also swept both diving events, led by junior Maggie Preston. The West Hartford, Connecticut native registered first-place scores of 209.45 and 231.25 in the 1-meter and 3-meter events, respectively. Senior captain Samantha Russo claimed second place in the 1-meter with a score of 209.05.
Gray and Blaser led the Catamounts in the 100 fly, capturing the top two spots in the event. Gray swam the 100 in 58.17 to take first place, and Blaser finished second with a time of 58.65.
Weaver won both the 50 and 100 freestyle events for the second straight meet. The junior clocked in at 24.38 in the 50 and 52.52 in the 100 to take the top spots.
Ilsa Feierabend was the Catamounts' top swimmer in the backstroke events, placing first in the 200 back (2:09.05), and earning a second-place finish in the 100 back (1:00.18).
Cowley took the top spot in the 100 breast (1:05.82), finishing just shy of the pool record (1:05.42). In the 200 breast, Cowley notched Vermont's top finish with a time of 2:26.63. Freshman Alexy Novelli swam the 200 fly in 2:10.73 to earn a second-place showing for the Catamounts.
UVM travels to Loudonville, New York for a dual meet with Siena on Saturday (Nov. 1) at 2 p.m.
The University of New Hampshire women's swimming & diving team won seven events in its season opening meet, but fell to the University of Vermont, 157-143, Saturday at Forbush Natatorium.
Freshman Jessica Harper (Easthampton, Mass.) started her collegiate career undefeated in three individual events. Harper won the 100-yard backstroke (57.52 seconds), 500-yard freestyle (5:03.01) and the 200-yard IM (2:07.77).
UNH's other individual wins came from senior Oneida Cooper (Johannesburg, South Africa), junior Bettina Caspersen (Lyngby, Denmark) and sophomore Sarah Broderick (Haverhill, Mass.). Cooper paced the field in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:38.41) and the 200-yard butterfly (2:09.60). Caspersen earned the top time in the 200-yard breaststroke, touching the wall at 2:22.35. Broderick prevailed in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:55.30.
On the boards, senior Nicole Zahka (Medway, Mass.) headlined the Cats' in both the one- and three-meter dives. Zahka placed third on the one-meter dive with a score 198.30. She claimed second place with a 212.95 score in the three-meter dive.
The Wildcats kicked off the meet in the 200-yard medley relay. The quartet of Nicole Anderson (Dover, N.H.), Katie Mann (Prince George, British Columbia), Liza Baykova (Moscow, Russia) and Cooper placed second, compiling a time of 1:50.10.
After winning the next three events in the 1,000-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke, Caspersen registered a runner-up finish for New Hampshire in the 100-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 1:07.08.
Mann joined Cooper on the scoreboard in the 200-yard butterfly. The senior recorded a third place finish, powering through the water to log a time of 2:11.13.
Broderick nearly captured first in the 50-yard freestyle as she was edged out by .13 seconds with a runner up time of 24.51.
After the one-meter diving event, Broderick and Baykova captured second (53.24) and third (53.82), respectively in the 100-yard freestyle.
Mann came close to taking first in the 200-yard backstroke. The senior's time of 2:09.20 was off the pace by just .15 seconds.
Entering the latter stages of the meet, UNH seized wins in both the 200-yard breaststroke and 500-yard freestyle. Sophomore Sarah Olver (Milwaukee, Wis.) joined Caspersen in the 200-yard breaststroke scoring, clocking in at 2:27.66 for third place. Three Wildcats were featured in the 500-yard freestyle, including a one-two finish by Harper and Cooper (5:14.13) respectively. Sophomore Lauren Marsden (Washington, D.C.) contributed with a fifth place time of 5:25.18.
Mann continued the scoring for UNH in the 100-yard butterfly. The senior was among two others that registered a sub one-minute time, touching the wall at 58.76, good for third place.
New Hampshire looked to make up ground in the final events of the meet. The Wildcats received their second one-two finish of the day in the 200-yard IM. Caspersen followed Harper in the event, touching the wall at 2:10.33.
However, the comeback effort fell short as the Catamounts came out on top in the 400-yard freestyle relay to hand the Wildcats the dual meet loss. The team of Megan Suffel (Cornwall, Ontario), Broderick, Baykova and Harper came in second with a combined time of 3:34.87.
New Hampshire remains away from Durham as the Wildcats compete at Northeastern University on Saturday, Oct. 25 (12 p.m.). The Wildcats host their home opener Saturday, Nov. 1 (2 p.m.) against Central Connecticut State University.
