By Craig Roman
An injury-plagued swimming and diving team hobbled into the University of Maryland-Baltimore County this past weekend for the America East Conference Championships, and nearly walked away with their sixth straight conference title.
Entering the final day of competition, the Huskies led UNH by 62 points before eventually relinquishing the lead on the final day and finishing second to UNH, 754-737.
Talisin Polhemus and Adela Gavozdea did all they could to assure a Husky victory. The pair finished 1-2 in both diving events. Polhemus won the 3-meter with a score of 478.10 followed by Gavozdea in second. In the 1-meter, the freshman Polhemus again bested the senior Gavozdea, 277.35 to 270.20.
The outstanding performance of the two divers did not surprise NU head coach Roy Coates, he said.
“We knew they were great all along; we’ve always had the best diving squad in the conference,” Coates said.
Junior Sarah Reddick won two events for the Huskies. She successfully defended her 100-yard butterfly win from the 2004 AE championships (56.46), and later went on to win the 200-yard butterfly (2:06.47). Reddick also placed fourth in the 200 individual medley.
Fellow junior Emily Crookall-Nixon scored 20 points with a win in the 200-yard freestyle (1:54.23).
Sophomore Kerby Lewis finished second in the 400 IM.
In her final America East Championships, senior captain Katie Schmaling took second in the 100-yard backstroke and third in the 100-yard freestyle.
The Husky freestyle relay teams had a solid meet but could not muster any wins against UNH. The Huskies finished second in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle relays, and each time it was the Wildcats who finished in first. In the 200, the team of Reddick, Schmaling, Lewis and senior Kelly McIsaac fell to UNH by less than one second (1:36.99). The 400-freestyle relay saw the same team of Huskies fall again to the Wildcats. The 800 was no different as Crookall-Nixon, Lewis, Coryn Voels and Schmaling could not come up with a win against mighty UNH.
The trend of the Wildcat dominance carried over into the 200-yard medley relay, where the Husky team of Voels, Emily Rochefort, Reddick and McIsaac again finished second behind eventual race winner UNH. Rochefort, the senior captain, showed tremendous heart by simply competing in the championships.
“The captain of my team, Emily Rochefort, took a cast off her foot before the championships and limped her way to the block and did as best she could,” Coates said.
The diving team left the championships with two awards; diving coach Brad Snodgrass won the award for Diving Coach of the Year and Polhemus was named the Most Outstanding Diver.
The swimming and diving team will make a few changes during the off-season, most notably a move to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and a subsequent loss of some scholarships. Look for a healthier team to hit the pool next season as the Huskies open up play in the CAA.
“The thing I am most proud of is we took what we had and did the best job we could possibly do at championships,” Coates said.
With five straight AE titles, NU’s accomplishments will not soon be forgotten.
