By AJ Mercincavage
Northeastern’s last undefeated season was during 2001-02, when the team went 9-0 and won the America East conference championship. Now, the team will have something new to add to the record books: a perfect 10-0 season.
The women’s swimming and diving team defeated Dartmouth Saturday at home, 165.5-134.5, to complete their winning streak.
The Huskies honored the team’s seniors, Kara Lane and Brooks Wallace, prior to the start of the meet with a Senior Day ceremony. Lane and Wallace would go on to win both the butterfly and diving events, respectively.
“Dartmouth was a great meet and it was great to honor our seniors,” said sophomore distance swimmer Emily Sutliff. “They have been a huge contributing factor to our successful season.”
Northeastern won 11 of the dual meet’s 16 events, including a 1-2 finish in the 200-yard medley relay to start off the action. The Huskies also finished 1-2 in the 200-yard breaststroke and swept the 100-yard backstroke.
The Huskies, currently ranked No. 11 among Division I mid-major programs according to CollegeSwimming.com, went undefeated in dual meet competition this season.
Kathrine Fugge swept the short distance freestyle races for Northeastern with wins in the 50-, 100- and 200-yard events.
Elena Alvarez won both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events for the Huskies.
Lane won both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly and Wallace won both the 1- and 3-meter diving events.
The Northeastern coaching staff was ceremoniously thrown into the pool by the Husky swimmers following the record-breaking win. Dartmouth defeated Northeastern last season.
Swimmers and staff later posed for pictures to commemorate the undefeated season.
“We have worked really hard this season and feel very confident going into Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship,” Sutliff said. “Some of us were sick or injured for the Dartmouth meet but we somehow managed to swim through it and win the meet.”
The team is now an unprecedented 10-0 heading into the CAA Championship. There they will face the likes of William ‘ Mary, who ranks No. 5 in the same CollegeSwimming.com poll.
“We know William and Mary is a great team,” Sutliff said. “But we feel we can compete with them in every event and ultimately come out on top.”
The Huskies will be shooting for best times at the CAA Championship, Sutliff said. The team has swimmers ranked in the top 5 in 14 of 21 competition events, according to the CAA midseason report. William ‘ Mary had swimmers ranked in the top 5 in 16 events in the midseason report.
The Huskies will compete in the 4-day CAA Championship at George Mason Wednesday, Feb. 27 through Saturday, March 1.
