By Craig Roman
The Northeastern swimming and diving team brought its perfect record on the road Saturday, opening up the second half of the season at unbeaten Harvard University. Despite strong performances from seniors Adela Gavozdea and Kristen Kane, Northeastern dropped their first meet of the year, 175-112.
The team was battling health issues, as they were feeling the lingering effects of stomach problems suffered over the winter break on a training trip to the Dominican Republic.
“We had some issues with the food and stomach problems, which we are still addressing, and that was one of the reasons we didn’t perform particularly well at Harvard,” said coach Roy Coates.
Captain Kane seemed unaffected by health issues, turning in an impressive performance, winning the 200-yard breaststroke (2:26.81) and finishing second in the 400-yard individual medley (5:01.02). Kane was a member of the third place 200-yard medley relay team (1:55.06). She later finished third in an exciting 100-yard breaststroke less than one second behind race winner Kate O’Brien of Harvard.
Gavozdea continued her outstanding senior season, with a pair of second place dives in the 1-meter (286.73) and 3-meter (304.66) events. Gavozdea’s second in the 1-meter dive was only 37 one-hundredths of a point behind eventual winner Samantha Papadakis of Harvard.
The Huskies received their usual strong performance from sensational freshman Coryn Voels. Voels dominated the 500-yard freestyle (5:20.28) and later helped the Huskies win the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:44.47).
Sophomore Katy Turner won the 100-yard butterfly (1:00.37) and also was a member of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team (1:44.47).
Kara Lane helped the team by scoring a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly (1:01.93) and a third place in the 400-yard individual medley (5:05.35).
Sophomore Kerby Lewis won the 400-yard individual medley (4:48.59), beating out teammate Kane.
Fellow sophomore Sara Underwood finished third in the 1,650-yard freestyle (18:11.04).
The Huskies made a late surge, finishing 1-2 in the final meet of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Voels, Turner, Lauren Aloma and Samantha Hoffmann won the race (1:44.47). Finishing a very close second was the team of Captain Katie Schmaling, Emily Ferrier, Underwood and Kelly McIsaac (1:45.48).
Before the break, the Huskies were a perfect 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the America East Conference, with conference wins coming against Boston University, the University of Maine and the University of Vermont.
One of the main reasons for the Huskies’ stellar season has been the performance of junior Sarah Reddick. Reddick is ranked no lower than fourth in five different events in the America East Conference. She is currently ranked first in the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard butterfly, second in the 100-yard freestyle, fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and fourth in the 200-yard individual medley.
“She’s an outstanding athlete. She is certainly versatile because she does the IM and the fly. We depend on Sarah to do a lot of things, both sprint, free, butterfly and IM. She’s a tremendously talented person,” Coates said.
Another factor that is helping separate the swimming and diving team from its competition, and leading to the overall success of the team, is the strength of the roster.
“We have a very deep team and everyone contributes top to bottom; that makes the biggest difference between us and other teams our team really goes from the first person to the last person and everyone contributes. I think that our depth is our greatest strength,” said Coates.
The Huskies had their closest meet thus far on Dec. 3 when they beat Wagner College 114-91. The team has three meets remaining before the America East Conference Championships at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County on Feb. 18, two on the road at the University of New Hampshire and Boston College and one home meet against Columbia University.
The swimming and diving team will look to avenge their lone loss of the season on Jan. 17 with an America East meet at UNH. The next home meet for the Huskies is Jan. 22 at 1 p.m. when they host Columbia at Barletta.
