By Max Nagel, News Correspondent
The women’s swimming and diving team took home a 184-116 win against the University of Vermont for its fourth straight, boosting its record to 8-3 on the season.
Sole Northeastern swimmer senior Jill Kearns beat Vermont’s 400-yard intermediate medley pool record with a 4:32.00, undercutting the previous record by .23 of a second.
The team’s winning streak shows diligence in and out of the pool as they hope for a strong showing at the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship at the end of the February swimming head coach Roy Coates said. He attributed the Huskies success in the pool to their physical condition, saying they have a “lean and strong team with a great fitness level.”
Northeastern’s assistant strength and conditioning coach Sarah Cahill has worked closely with the swimmers to get them into top shape as they strive for the CAA Championship.
The team isn’t afraid to hide its excitement for the championships, February 22-25.
“I’m excited for the season to be coming to an end,” sophomore Alli Gielowski said. “It’s been a long season of training and we are all excited to go to the championships and do well.”
The CAA doesn’t rank swimming and diving teams throughout the season, but this year’s team is already has a better record that last year’s. In 2011, the Huskies ended season competition at 8-4 overall, finishing eighth at the CAA championships.
“I’m confident in these swimmers. They’re a versatile and well-balanced team with great fitness,” Coates said. “I don’t think we’ll win the CAAs, but I definitely think we can move up two or so spots from our performance last year.”
Coates attributed this season’s success to seasoned upper-class swimmers and to the young talent. Swimming on Saturday, Northeastern’s underclassmen finished in the top slots.
One of Northeastern’s 200-yard medley relay teams swam to a first place finish against the Catamounts with a time of 1:50.53. The young relay squad consisted of freshman Anna Schegoleva, sophomores Dana Schleif and Julia Alvarez, and junior Chelsea Lim.
In the 200-yard Freestyle event, Shegoleva and freshman Megan Foran finished first and second with times of 1:53.93 and 1:56.95, respectively.
Older Huskies also came away with first place finishes in 50-yard freestyle, 200-yard breast stroke and the 400-yard intermediate medley.
“We only have one senior swimmer who will be leaving and as much as it saddens me to see her go, I’m also very excited to see our new and younger talent shine over the coming years,” Coates said.
Kerans, the Huskies long senior swimmer, also won her 200-yard Butterfly event with a 2:05.28 – one of her two victories against Vermont.
Women’s Diving Coach Joe Chirico said his team has been driven by talent and experience. Two returning divers, sophomore Candace Young and senior Rachael Peterson, who both qualified for the NCAA Championships last year, have played a crucial role in how the diving squad has, “outscored their completion by 2-1 nearly every meet this season.”
Paterson secured first place in the one-meter diving competition with a score of 254.47. She missed a first-place finish in the three-meter dive by less than three points, with a 262.87, good for second. Young came in third with a 242.85 in the 3 meter dive.
Chirico said he hopes to see both Young and Peterson qualify for NCAAs again this season with three meets remaining, included the championships. He said he would like to have two or three of his divers qualify for the finals at the CAA diving championships as well.
“[It] would be a tremendous accomplishment,” he said.
The Huskies’ next meet is Feb. 4 at 11 a.m. at home in the Barletta Natatorium hosting Dartmouth and Rhode Island.
