The University of New Hampshire women's swimming & diving team captured 15 of 16 events to upend the University of Rhode Island, 172-120, at Tootell Aquatics Center on Saturday.
UNH posts back-to-back wins, improving to 3-1 in dual meets. Rhode Island falls to 1-3. The Wildcats led the meet from start-to-finish, posting one-two finishes in nine events.
Sophomores Liza Baykova (Moscow, Russia) and Jessica Harper (Easthampton, Mass.) each tallied three individual first-place finishes. Baykova logged the lead time in the 50- (24.45 seconds), 100- (52.57) and 200-yard freestyle (1:55.34) events. Harper posted first-place times in the 200-yard IM (2:10.00) and the 100- (59.28) and 200-yard butterfly (2:06.95) events.
Senior Hailee Miller (Milton, Mass.) put forth a career day on the boards. She swept both events with career-highs in the one- (232.00) and three-meter dives (216.46).
Classmate Bettina Caspersen (Lyngby, Denmark) also turned in two first-place finishes individually. She paced the field in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, registering times of 1:06.36 and 2:23.38, respectively.
Other individual lead times came from junior Sarah Broderick(Haverhill, Mass.), sophomore Bridget Miller (Longmeadow, Mass.), and freshman Brittany Driscoll (Wallingford, Conn.). Broderick prevailed in the 100-yard backstroke, cutting through the water for a time of 58.87. Miller clocked in at 5:16.80 to lead the pack in the 500-yard freestyle. Driscoll muscled out a 10:38.50 mark in the 1,000-yard freestyle.
New Hampshire seized both relay events in the rout. Rookies Linnea Lemerise (Brentwood, N.H.) and Vivienne El-Sibay (Munich, Germany) accompanied by Broderick and Caspersen combined for a time of 3:57.40 in the 400-yard medley relay. The quartet of Baykova, Broderick, Caspersen and Harper forged a time of 1:37.70 to post the winning time in the 200-yard freestyle.
UNH is among a slew of schools that will be competing at the three-day Rutgers Invitational starting Friday, Nov. 20. The 'Cats return to the confines of Swasey Pool on Friday, Jan. 29 (5 p.m) against America East rival University of Maine.
