By Jodie Ng, news staff
The Northeastern women’s swimming and diving team broke nine records during its CAA Championship fight last week and placed fifth out of eight teams.
The swimmers and divers competed separately and Head Coach Roy Coates spoke highly of the squad’s performances. The divers competed on Feb. 21 and 22 while the Husky swimmers competed Feb. 25-28.
“It was a tremendously successful championship. We had nine school records set,” Coates said. “They performed at really high levels.”
NU’s most recent record-setting performance contributes to the overall 11 records set this year. Some of the championship’s records were re-broken from earlier in the year – a testament to the Huskies’ high caliber.
“I’m really proud of my whole team. Everyone performed exceptionally well,” senior co-captain Anna Schegoleva said. “It’s probably one of our best years so far.”
Sophomore Jordan Domeier was among those posting a new school record. She finished eighth overall in the 1650-meter freestyle, the meet’s longest event, with a time of 16:54.72, breaking last year’s record of 17:04.47, held by current senior Colleen McCormack.
Schegoleva swam to second-place with a time of 1:58.38 in the 200-meter backstroke and achieved another National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) B-cut time in the event.
The team opened the meet with a record-breaking performance in the 200-meter relay. Freshman Christine Leong, sophomore Taylor Ellis, senior Anna Schegoleva and freshman Sara Touchette-McGowan swam to an NU-best of 1:41:37, placing sixth.
Over the course of the day, NU was in close competition with the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, but Touchette-McGowan was edged out by Chelsea Tomko by 0.01 seconds for fifth place. Other close races were differentiated by a mere one-second deferential, including the 200-meter medley relay.
A strong performance continued during the 800-meter freestyle relay. Domeier, senior co-captain Megan Foran, Ellis and Touchette-McGowan cruised to a top-five finish and a season-best time of 7:22.72.
Coates said the seniors performed “really well.”
“As a senior, it was really bittersweet because I didn’t expect it to come so soon. Four years seem to fly by really quickly,” Schegoleva said. “I hope to give something back to the team and hopefully I’ll be able to be an assistant coach next year.”
Schegoleva added that she’s excited to see the team from a different angle and “hopefully see them reach new successes.”
This meet doesn’t just mark the end of the season, but also the conclusion of the senior’s collegiate career.
Schegoleva scored 40 points for NU, claiming the title of best individual point-scorer in the swimming events. Senior Erica DeMunbrun was also among the top-scorers, earning 16 points. Senior co-captain Jessica Colucci swam to a time of 52.27 in the 100-meter freestyle for 23rd place. Foran had a 0.10 second improvement in the 200-meter freestyle, swimming to a season personal best of 1:51.26.
NU’s season goal was to move up a couple spots in the league, and according to Coates, the team is definitely on the right track.
“We’ve moved up from sixth last year to fifth, so we’ve been creeping up over the years,” Coates said. “We’re in a really good conference, so it’s moving slowly, but it is happening. We are moving up every year. We keep getting better.”
Over the years, the Huskies have formed strong relationships with one another and Schegoleva mentioned that she has celebrated her birthday the past four years with her fellow teammates at the same meet.
“As freshmen, we came in and we really wanted to change the program. We’ve seen a lot of changes on the team and that was really our goal to become stronger throughout the years and make a better team,” Schegoleva said. “We have amazing memories together and we hope to remain just as strongly bonded throughout the years to come.”
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
