By Glenn Billman, news staff

Underclassmen led Northeastern University’s (NU) swimming and diving team to victory in the final dual meet of the season. The team crushed Long Island University Brooklyn (LIUB) 247-55 and soundly beat Wagner College 178.5-136.5 last Friday and Saturday in Brooklyn.

Of the 347.5 individual points, 154.5 notched by the Huskies were nabbed by freshmen and sophomores. Freshman Miriam Schaefer dominated with four first place wins and two second place finishes for a total of 44 individual points.

“She had a great meet,” head coach Roy Coates said. “Obviously she did really well on both breaststroke and the individual medley and the Medley Relay. She’s just getting stronger throughout the whole year, so she’s a great athlete. And the 200 IM is basically the decathlon of swimming, so she can do it all. She does all four strokes really well, and obviously she’s a breaststroke specialist, but she can do everything.”

Freshman Rachel Smith earned fifth in the 200-yard freestyle, and sophomore Mackenzie Hagist earned third on the 1 and 3-meter diving boards. Smith and Hagist had yet to add individual points to the score sheet this season; now, all 29 teammates have contributed points.

Over the course of the season, rookie swimmers have collected almost 30 percent of individual points at dual meets.

The senior class competed strongly in their final dual meet of their collegiate careers: Kerry Treusdell took home 38 points and first place in the 200-yard freestyle while Delaney Lanker snatched up first in the 200-yard butterfly for a total of 21 individual points. For Jordan Domeier, the last formal meet was bittersweet.

“I’m ready to be done with swimming, but it’s all I’ve ever done,” Domeier said. “It’s kind of sad to be done, but I’m really excited to swim my best events soon and see what I can do.”

NU blocked Wagner from the top three places in the 1 and 3-meter dive, and junior Alyssa Seales’ first place win in the 3-meter dive was her 10th win of the season. Meanwhile, junior Caroline Gonsalves notched a first place victory in the 1-meter. LUIB does not have a diving team.

With Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships only three weeks away, Coates said he was hopeful that the NU women would achieve their season goal of placing in the top three.

“I think the battle will be between Drexel, ourselves and Towson for third place,” Coates said. “It’s not going to be easy. It certainly could go the other way, but our plan is to get very close.”

Next Saturday the divers will compete at the James Madison University Diving Invitational in Harrisonburg, Virginia while the swimmers travel to Cambridge on Sunday to face off against Harvard in an unscored meet. CAA Championships will begin Feb. 22.

“The team is just a great group of women, inside and outside the pool,” senior swimmer Rachel Green said. “This is the strongest team that I’ve had inside and outside the pool. So to go out with a season where we’re doing so well, I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics