By Chris Judd, News Correspondent
Sophomore Anna Schegoleva set three pool records, leading the Northeastern swimming and diving team to a third place finish of seven teams in the Dartmouth Invitational Friday and Saturday in White River Junction, Vt. Dartmouth College and Boston University finished first and second, respectively.
Schegoleva’s records came in the 100-meter backstroke (57.12), the 200-meter backstroke (2:03.31) and the 200 individual medley (IM) with a time of 2:06.53. This is the fifth time she has won both the 100 and 200-backstroke this season.
“We swam really well this meet,” head coach Roy Coates said. “We barely lost to BU. Dartmouth is probably around the third best team in New England, while BU is around fourth, and we’re close to them. This was the best team performance of the year.”
The Huskies were able to beat the University of Massachusetts, to whom they lost earlier in the year in a dual meet.
“Everyone swam fantastic,” senior Keary McClernan said. “We’re glad we beat UMass because they beat us earlier this year, and we wanted to get the better of them this time.”
The 400-meter medley relay team of Schegoleva, junior Julia Alvarez, junior Alli Gielowski and sophomore Megan Foran broke another pool record, although they ultimately got second place (3:53.65).
McClernan (2:22.95) and Alvarez (2:23.52) got the top two finishes in the 200-meter breaststroke for the Huskies. Alvarez also won the 100-breaststroke (1:04.91).
“There were a lot of really close races,” McClernan said. “I was terrified of losing the entire time. It was good because I had Julia [Alvarez] next to me the entire time and we always push each other.”
The Huskies had five of the top 10 finishes in the 100-breaststroke as McClernan and sophomore Deirdre Esposito placed third and fourth, respectively, while freshmen Amanda Liew and Taylor Brew took ninth and 10th.
Junior Julia Sepulveda finished second in the 200-meter IM and the 400-meter IM (4:34.43). Freshman Sophie Browne grabbed a season-best fourth place finish in the 400-meter IM (4:34.43).
The Huskies had another strong performance in the 200-meter fly. Gielowski took second (2:06.42 clip). Julia Sepulveda (2:09.01), Sophomore DeMunbrun (2:09.97) and Junior Adriana Sepulveda (2:13.02) finished the 200 fly in eighth, 10th and 12th, respectively.
In the three-meter dive, Junior Candace Young posted took ninth place (234.2). In the one-meter dive, Young earned a 203.80 while and Junior DeAnna Vecchiarello earned 155.55 points.
“I was really impressed by the competition,” Vecchiarello said. “Everyone competed at a high level and some of the schools were Boston schools that we hadn’t seen yet this year because they’re not in our conference.”
The diving was more difficult at the Dartmouth Invitational than at dual meets because more competition meant a change in routine, Vecchiarello said.
“At dual meets, the diving is very quick,” said Vecchiarello. “At tournaments, there’s more divers, so everyone has to wait longer. We have to stay focused and warm during the drag.”
In the 400 freestyle relay, senior Kelley Becherer, Foran, sophomore Jessica Colucci and J. Sepulveda claimed third (3:35.79).
Freshman Amanda Liew, senior Chelsea Lim, Colucci and Becherer placed fifth in the 200-meter freestyle relay (1:40.16), which was within two seconds of the first place team.
Junior Jenny Doolin finished fifth in the 1650 freestyle (17:48.22) while junior Colleen McCormack finished eighth (17:57.70).
Next week, the Huskies travel to the University of Rhode Island to compete Feb. 2.
“We should certainly win this match,” Coates said. “It’s our last opportunity to fine-tune before championships. Dartmouth was great to see everyone we had to.”
After Rhode Island, the Huskies have two weeks to prepare before going to Colonial Athletic Association Championships on Feb. 27.
“Everyone’s looking forward to Championships,” McClernan said. “I am just looking to improve my time as much as I can. In swimming, the best way is to set a time for yourself to beat since you can’t control how anyone else performs.”
The Huskies finished sixth at Championships last year and are looking to improve.
“After next week, we’re going to taper down the volume and intensity of the training to fine-tune for Championships,” said Coates. “We want to improve in the conference. It won’t be easy, but I definitely think we can do it.”
