The University of Rhode Island Rams (2-1, 0-0 Atlantic 10), or URI, hosted the Northeastern Huskies (2-0, 0-0 CAA) for an early season dual meet Oct. 18 in a close, competitive match-up. The Huskies edged out URI for a final score of 156-143.
URI started out strong, taking the 200-yard medley relay with a 1:48.61 finish from the team comprising sophomore Lily Mair, freshman Maddy Deeney, freshman Molly Beckwith and sophomore Emma Raser. Northeastern quickly struck back in the 1,000-yard freestyle, with freshmen Abigail Gowern (10:39.62) and Siena Griffiths (10:44.74) taking first and second, respectively.
Northeastern suffered in the 200-yard freestyle with no one placing in the top three. But freshman Alex Fuller (57.81), sophomore Delaney Alonso (58.06), freshman Sophie Bromley (58.79) and senior Teagan Osga (59.42) quickly came back to sweep the top four spots in the 100-yard backstroke, contributing major points for the Huskies.
In the 100-yard breaststroke, graduate student Elisabeth Bendall out-touched second place by nearly a second, finishing in a 1:07.11. Freshman Marea Li finished fourth in 1:08.42.
Northeastern’s lack of mid-distance flyers was apparent in the 200-yard butterfly, with only two entries. The second place finish from freshman Rory Keller (2:11.10) was nearly three seconds behind the winner of the event, and the fourth place finish from sophomore Peyton Knightly (2:17.65) was nearly 10 seconds behind.
Northeastern dominated in the sprint events, with juniors Mary Nordmann and May Bradburn taking first and second with times of 24.06 and 24.07, respectively, in the 50-yard freestyle. The sprint group continued to dominate in the 100-yard freestyle with Fuller (52.62) and senior Kotoko Blair (53.88) finishing first and second and Knightly (54.58) finishing fourth.
Northeastern diving suffered against URI’s strong performance in the 1-meter — the top finish was freshman Kailyn Aquino in third with a score of 256.35, more than 25 points behind the winner of the event, senior Olivia Winslow from URI.
Northeastern dominated in the 200-yard backstroke and breaststroke. With the help of senior Anna Verlander (2:06.35), Bromley (2:06.51) and Osga (2:09.93), the Huskies swept the top three spots in backstroke. The team continued its strong showing in the 200-yard breaststroke, with Li (2:25.21) placing first by nearly two seconds and Bendall (2:27.03) finishing second, out-touching Deeney (2:27.55).
The distance crew’s strong showing from the 1,000 was not repeated in the 500-yard freestyle, with the highest Northeastern finish being a third place performance by Griffiths (5:09.86).
Nordmann carried the 100-yard butterfly, winning first in 56.92. Teammates Bradburn (57.66) and Alonso (59.48) followed closely, taking third and fourth, respectively.
Husky diving continued to struggle against URI in the 3-meter diving. Three divers represented the Huskies — senior Anelise Kim (242.18), Aquino (238.05) and sophomore Alison Kolman (224.10), who finished third, fourth and sixth, respectively.
With the help of freshman Alex Campion (2:10.10), the team bounced back in the 200-yard individual medley.
In the final event of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay, URI took both first and second, leaving the Northeastern relay consisting of Blair, Li, Knightly and Griffiths (3:37.29) to take third.
Despite URI’s strong relays and diving dominance, Northeastern’s consistency across the strokes and distance events secured the overall victory in this back-and-forth battle of a meet with a final score of 156-143.
The Huskies will be back in action against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (0-0) and Harvard University (0-0) Friday, Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. in MIT’s Zesinger Sports and Fitness Center.
