By: Jimmy Brooks, News Staff
Surrounded by friends, family, coaches and teammates, five Northeastern seniors made their last competitive appearances last weekend at Barletta Natatorium as the Huskies beat Siena University 182-106.
Seniors Erica Smotrycz, Rachel Mondello, Carolyn Marsh, Sarah Martin and Jennyfer Roberts made the best of their last meet at Barletta, all playing vital parts in the victory.
Roberts’ score of 291.82 from the 1-meter board was enough to claim a first place finish. Freshman Candace Young earned a second place finish with a score of 288.90. Junior Rachael Peterson, who turned in a score of 267.07, captured the third place spot. With their strong showings, all three divers are now qualified for the NCAA Diving Zone Championships.
“It was somewhat of a surprise for me,” Young said. “It’s a huge accomplishment and a proud moment to qualify, and to get to be able to represent Northeastern.”
From the moment the first Husky swimmer dove into the pool to start the meet, Siena couldn’t slow Northeastern down. The Huskies won their first five events, and 11 of 12 on the day.
“We wanted to be ‘1-2-3’ every event and we pretty much did [that],” Smotrycz said.
Freshman Colleen McCormack finished first in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:42.72, trailed by Adriana Sepulveda, whose time of 10:47.30 was enough to claim second place. Later, McCormack recorded her second first-place finish of the day, posting a time of 5:14.01 to win the 500-yard freestyle.
Despite the large lead, the Huskies never slowed down. Even during the last relay event, which had no bearing on the final result, a relentless Smotrycz could be seen trying to close a once-enormous gap before the finish line. Although she got within a half-of-a-second away from winning the race, she was unable to emerge with a win. Yet her persistent effort reinforced how teammates describe the squad as a whole.
“When you’re swimming against people where you already know that, depth wise, you’re deeper than they are, mentally, you have to still tell yourself to ‘push, push,’” Mondello said. “It’s easy to think you have it in the bag. We didn’t [let up].”
The Huskies also performed solidly in the 200-yard medley relay, as Marsh, Mondello, freshman Dana Schleif and sophomore Keary McClernan claimed a first dash place finish, touching the wall at 1:51.82. A second team of Martin, junior Brie de Palezieux and sophomores Nicole Colucci and Kelley Becherer trailed right behind, posting a time of 1:52.76, good enough for second place.
Freshman Julia Alvarez won two events of her own, taking home first place in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke finishing with times of 1:06.12 and 2:26.07, respectively.
Each senior was a part of at least one first- or second-place finish on the day, with Erica Smotrycz winning the 50-meter freestyle in 25.10.
“All four [senior swimmers] hold part of a school record,” head coach Roy Coates said. “Jenn is our best diver. The girls are looked up to for who they are. They all know a lot about the school, and deserve the respect they get from their teammates.”
Mondello said it’s been a big responsibility to help guide the 12 freshmen and seven sophomores. However, she added that it’s been a smooth transition.
“They picked up really quickly, and [have] done nothing but work hard,” she said. The great thing about having such a large underclass is that [the seniors] have had a huge opportunity to change the culture of the team. Northeastern is going to get better and better in the next few years.”
With Colonial Athletic Association championships now less than a month away, the team must spend the next few weeks preparing more intensely than they ever have.
Coates said he will eventually lighten up the swimmers’ training intensity to conserve energy, but until then, the team will be going at full force.
Before heading to Fairfax, Va., however, the Huskies must face Dartmouth and Rhode Island in the regular season finale. The meet takes place at Dartmouth Feb. 5.
