By Jared Sugerman

Before the Northeastern swimming ‘ diving team began the 2006-07 season, head coach Roy Coates said, “The biggest benchmark of the regular season is the invitational meet at BU. Some of the best teams from around New England will be there, so it’s a pretty big checkpoint for us.”

This past weekend, the Huskies won that very competition, edging second-place Boston College 710-705.5.

The victory marked the second time this season Northeastern bested the Eagles of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The first came Oct. 27, when the Huskies topped BC 161.5-138.5 on Chestnut Hill. Eight other schools competed in the meet as well, including host Boston University, which finished fourth.

“It was one of the most exciting non-championship meets I’ve ever been a part of,” Coates said. “We were in a battle from the very first day to the very last day. In addition to performing well, we also competed tremendously well to win the championship. All of the girls were completely drained by the last event, both physically and emotionally.”

Two Huskies set four new school records over the three days of competition; budding freshman star Kathrine Fugge set three, and sophomore Elena Alvarez, last year’s CAA Rookie of the Year, recorded a school-best time as well.

Fugge finished second in the 100 freestyle competition in second place with a time of 51.98 seconds, one-upping the effort of Sarah Reddick at the 2006 CAA Championships. She broke another of Reddick’s records by winning the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:05.77, as well as Kelly McIsaac’s record time in the 200 freestyle event. Fugge finished the 200 freestyle in 1:52.59, earning her second-place points.

In addition to finishing in first place in the 200 IM, Fugge combined with junior Kara Lane, sophomore Alexandra Doty, and Alvarez to give Northeastern first- place points in the 400 medley relay.

Alvarez toppled her own record in the 200 breaststroke, finishing first with a time of 2:18:55. She also won the 100 and 200 backstroke competitions.

Freshman Emily Sutliff finished second in the 500 and 1650 freestyle, as did the quartet of Doty, senior Katy Turner, Alvarez, and Fugge in the 200 medley relay.

Northeastern swimmers finished third in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. The team of junior Samantha Sabre, freshman Alexis Kalevich, Doty and Fugge finished the 200 competition with a time of 138.57, and Alvarez, Kalevich, Turner and Fugge combined for a time of 3:33.46 in the 400 relay.

“The performances that helped put us in first place show that we are even further ahead of where I thought we would be at the beginning of the season,” Coates said. “Across the board, the performances of the girls were truly outstanding.”

The team’s next meet is against Massachusetts Dec. 2 at noon at Barletta Natatorium.