Behind multiple 1-2-3 finishes and victories in 14 of 15 events, the University of New Hampshire women's swimming & diving team upended the University of Maine in Friday's 176-99 rout at Swasey Pool on Senior Night.
"I am really pleased with how we competed today as both the swimmers and divers really stepped up," said head coach Josh Willman. "Going into the America East Championships, we told the team it is really important that we be swimming fast and the results last week against Rutgers and today with Maine put us in the position to have some great results at the conference championships in two weeks."
Before the meet, six seniors were honored for their dedication and performance to the UNH women's swimming & diving program. The Class of 2015 consisted of Nicole Anderson (Dover, N.H.), Oneida Cooper (Johannesburg, South Africa), Katie Mann (Prince George, British Columbia), Megan Suffel (Cornwall, Ontario), Kathryn Violette (Portland, Maine) and Nicole Zahka (Medway, Mass.).
Freshman Liza Baykova (Moscow, Russia) and Mann headlined the scoring effort for the Wildcats with three first place efforts each.
The rookie bolted through the water to record a time of 24.09 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle. Baykova turned in a 51.77 performance in the 100-yard freestyle and clocked in at 1:51.11 in the 200-yard freestyle.
Mann started her trifecta of individual top finishes with a 2:02.74 performance in the 200-yard butterfly. The senior added a 2:15.75 time in the 200-yard breaststroke and capped off the trio of individual wins with a 57.59 mark in the 100-yard butterfly.
Reigning America East and Corvias ECAC Division I New England Swimmer of the Week Jessica Harper (Easthampton, Mass.) posted wins in the 200-yard IM (2:05.88) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:55.38). Following the rookie's first place finish in the 200-yard IM, she was back in the pool after one event and nearly snapped her personal best. Harper just missed the mark by .06 seconds.
On the boards, Zahka swept both the one- and three-meter diving events. The senior started her night with a score of 224.95 in the one-meter dive. She then bested her career-high for the second consecutive week on the high board, earning a mark of 271.60.
Sophomore Sarah Broderick (Haverhill, Mass.) and junior Bettina Caspersen (Lyngby, Denmark) rounded out the individual top finishes. Broderick tapped the panel first in the 100-yard backstroke for a time of 58.45. Caspersen paced the field in the 200-yard IM and slammed the wall to stop the clock at 2:07.19.
New Hampshire captured both the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relay events. The Wildcat quartet of Anderson, Mann, Harper and Broderick combined for a time of 1:45.99 in the 200-yard medley. To conclude the meet, the team of Broderick, Baykova, Cooper and Harper pulled away from the field in the 400-yard by engineering a mark of 3:32.56.
Other notable finishes came from freshman Bridget Miller (Longmeadow, Mass.), sophomore Emily Giambastini (Walnut Creek, Calif.), Anderson, Cooper and Suffel. Miller grinded out a 5:13.58 mark in the 500-yard freestyle, clocking in at 5:13.58. Giambastini also logged a runner-up finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:09.85. Cooper placed second in the 200-yard freestyle, blazing through the water to hit the wall at 1:54.19. Suffel turned in a runner-up finish with a time of 2:14.20 in the 200-yard IM.
The Wildcats are set to defend their conference title at the four-day America East Championships starting Thursday, Feb. 12, hosted at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Sports & Recreation Center.
