By Brian Pivonka

Three was the lucky number for Sarah Reddick and the rest of the swimming and diving team as the Huskies defeated Boston College, 156-144, on Thursday night in what was dubbed by Reddick as “the most competitive dual meet of the year.”

The victory raised the Huskies’ record to 8-2 and was their last meet before the America East Conference Championships on Feb. 20-22.

Reddick won three events, the 50-yard freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley as well as assisting the 200 medley relay team to a first place finish.

“I would say it was my best performance of the year,” Reddick said. “I set a personal best in the 100 fly [56.78], but I swam well in the other events too.”

Even though the meet was a non-conference contest, it was still important for both teams.

“There are four D-1 schools in Boston,” said NU coach Roy Coates. “Harvard’s always in the top 25, so we battle for who is the next best. There’s a rivalry between all three of us, they’re always pretty heated battles.”

The meet started off well for Northeastern when the team of Katie Schmaling, Katie Kane, Sarah Reddick and Kelly McIsaac dominated the 200-yard medley relay, winning by almost four seconds.

But the momentum quickly swung back in Boston College’s favor as the Eagles took first, second and third in the 1,000-yard freestyle.

However, Jesse Coxson, in what Coates dubbed “the turning point of the meet,” took first in the 500 free.

“They were good,” said Coxson. “We weren’t prepared for their depth. They swam their best meet ever, but we stepped up.”

This appeared to lift the spirits of the Huskies as they won every event after the 500, with the exception of the 400 yard freestyle relay, putting the meet out of reach for BC.

“After the 1000, our spirits were low because we expected to score higher,” said Reddick. “And the 500 was another distance event. Jesse stepped up and after that was the 100 fly.”

Katie Kane, the only other swimmer to win multiple events, came up with a strong performance. She won both the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke.

Adela Gavozdea placed first in both diving events, the 1-meter and 3-meter, in convincing fashion. Gavozdea’s score of 284.10 easily topped the next best score of 265.50. The 3-meter was even more decisive. With a score of 291.82, Gavozdea topped the next best competitor by almost 50 points.

Also winning events were Emily Crookall-Nixon in the 200-yard backstroke and Katie Schmaling in the 100-yard backstroke.

The Huskies waited for the most opportune time for them to come up with one of their best performances of the year.

“Except for the Princeton Invite, this was our best dual meet performance all year,” Coates said.