By Jared Sugerman
The swimming ‘ diving team defeated Massachusetts 160.5-139.5 Saturday at Barletta Natatorium. The win comes on the heels of the Huskies’ first-place finish at the BU Invitational, where they bested both Boston College and Boston University.
“It’s great to have beaten both of our rivals in the city of Boston, and UMass as well,” said head coach Roy Coates. “It shows us where we’re at compared to other schools in our area, and it gives us an advantage in terms of recruiting.”
The Huskies and Minutemen competed in 12 events Saturday, with Northeastern winning seven.
Freshman Kathrine Fugge finished first in the 100 butterfly, and teamed up with senior Tarah Rodriguez, sophomore Elena Alvarez and senior Katy Turner to take first in the 200 medley relay. Fugge also captured second in the 200 freestyle.
Freshman Emily Sutliff earned top points in the 1,000 freestyle, as did Alexandra Doty in the 100 and 200 backstroke, Kara Lane in the 200 butterfly, and Elena Alvarez in the 200 individual medley. Diver Brooks Wallace in the 3-meter competition.
Despite the success, Coates said the team didn’t rise to the potential it showed at the BU Invitational.
“UMass competed at the BU invitational, so we were confident that we had a better team than they did,” he said. “There was a bit of a letdown, both physically and mentally, but even when you aren’t as sharp as you’d like, you have to do what’s necessary to win.”
The Huskies’ next scheduled meet is not until Jan. 15, when they will take on Boston University in New Hampshire.
“It’s really good to have the momentum coming off the first place finish at the BU Invitational, and now to get this win going into a month without competition,” Coates said.
The team will spend part of its time off before the holidays practicing in Puerto Rico, and plans to hold a scrimmage against Dartmouth there.
“Primarily, it’s just an opportunity to get more training in,” Coates said. “Once we get back to campus after the break, we only have about four weeks of training time to go before the conference championship meet.”
