By Jodie Ng, news staff
The Northeastern women’s swim team traveled to the University of Connecticut (UConn) last weekend for the UConn Open, winning five of the 12 events.
In addition to Northeastern (NU) and UConn, other competing schools included Boston College, Bryant University, Connecticut College, Keene State College and Rhode Island College.
The final regular-season meet was not scored, which allowed the swimmers to focus on improving individual times.
Two swimmers did exactly that. Freshmen Taylor Ellis and Sara Touchette-McGowan set new pool records in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 100-yard butterfly, respectively. Ellis had a first-place time of 1:02.57 while Touchette-McGowan had a first-place time of 55.23.
According to Head Coach Roy Coates, the meet at UConn is one of the biggest competitions in the Northeast which highlights the astounding achievement of breaking pool records.
“[Ellis and Touchette-McGowan] are both huge contributors to the team and they’re both really talented,” Coates said. “Luckily for us, they both swim great right now.”
Those were not the last of their triumphs. Ellis also swam to first place in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 28.69. Additionally, Touchette-McGowan finished first with a time of 51.74 in the 100-yard freestyle.
The UConn Open started with two NU top-three results in the 50-yard backstroke. Freshman Christine Leong placed first with a time of 27.02 and senior Erica DeMunbrun swam to third place with a time of 28.36.
Senior and co-captain Megan Foran competed in the 200-yard IM for the first time this season and earned third with a time of 2:12.14.
Sophomore Tove Bjork tied for fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke with Bryant’s senior Ali Morreale.
Ellis and Touchette-McGowan were not the only Huskies who set a personal best. Freshman Anila Mehta set a personal record in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:15.95, earning fifth place.
Continuing a successful meet, NU took the top three spots in the 100-yard butterfly. DeMunbrun and sophomore Caroline O’Brien followed Touchette-McGowan’s record-setting performance with times of 58.79 and 59.76, respectively.
The Huskies swept the podium again in the 100-yard freestyle. Touchette-McGowan led with 51.74, followed by sophomore Jordan Domeier and Foran. Freshman Kimberly Hill was short 0.21 to beat her personal best in fifth place.
The team continued a dominant performance with senior and co-captain Anna Schegoleva’s first-place win in the 100-yard backstroke, edging out UConn’s sophomore Christine Pedersen by over one second.
NU had a strong and successful season this year and has been riding its momentum throughout. Although the Huskies will not be competing until the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championships between Feb. 21 and 28, Coates said he has no concerns about their momentum snapping.
This meet also marked the first time the Huskies competed away from its diving team and the two divisions will continue to compete separately at the 2015 CAA championships. The diving team will compete in Newark, Del. while the swim team will travel to Richmond, Va.
NU is 7-4 in the 11 regular season meets. The team has a common goal of improving its sixth-place overall finish in the league — looking to achieve that as one squad.
“I think we’ve done a great job developing a team identity, a team personality, a camaraderie,” Coates said. “We’re getting faster, we’re diving better throughout the whole year. With those two components, we’re really right on target to compete at the end of the month at the CAA championships.”
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
