By James Duffy, sports editor
The Northeastern University (NU) swimming and diving team hit the lanes for their first official meet of the season and beat Boston University with a score of 165-135 on Saturday, Oct. 1.
The Huskies recorded first place finishes in 11 events. Sophomore swimmer Carly Schnabel led the way with two individual victories.
Schnabel earned first place in the 200-and 500-yard freestyle, as well as racing with the 400-yard freestyle relay team that finished first. She earned 24.75 points, the most on the team.
Nine freshmen swam in their first collegiate meet on Saturday and six recorded points. Swimmer Megan Clark stood out, racing to two individual first place finishes as well as contributing to two winning relays.
Head coach Roy Coates said he was impressed with how the freshman class performed, but not shocked.
“It was very important to see them react in competition: how they race, how they face adversity,” he said. “We weren’t overly surprised because we recruited them for their ability to do just that at the high school level.”
The diving team, which scored the most points in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) last season, picked up right where it left off.
In the three-meter dives, three Huskies placed in the top five. Junior Jacquelyn Gover took home first place with a score of 227.48, and junior Alyssa Seales was close behind, nabbing second place with 222.45 points. Junior Caroline Gonsalves came in fifth.
Seales and Gover also competed in the one-meter dive, finishing second and fourth respectively.
“We have not only talent, but also depth,” Coates said of his diving squad. “We expect our team to have the best diving program in the conference.”
Coates’ confidence extended beyond the diving team. He said he expects the whole squad to compete for a top spot in the CAA.
“I expect us to be on the winning side of the vast majority of most [meets],” he said. “There’s nobody that we should back down to and nobody that we can’t beat.”
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics.
