The Boston University women’s swimming and diving team narrowly beat Boston College last night, posting a 151-149 victory at Flynn Complex Pool. One year after demolishing BC by 80 points, the Terriers needed a hard-fought effort to squelch the Eagles.
BU (7-2) dominated the opening event to pick up its first win of the day, as the 200-yard relay quartet of sophomore Emily Munday and freshmen Sarah Doersam, Kirsten Tullis and Maria McIntyre finished in 1:52.54.
BU’s rookies continued to impress, as McIntyre won the 50-yard freestyle in 25.40.
“Our freshman contributed in a huge way,” said BU coach Bill Smyth.
Junior Christina Ruggiero snatched another win for the Terriers, claiming the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:28.32. Ruggiero was followed closely by teammate Clara Van Allen (10:51.00), who also picked up a victory in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:10.05).
The Terriers used the diving events to distance themselves from BC, as junior Tess Waresmith won both the one (306.30) and three-meter (275.55) diving events. Junior Alex Crerar finished second in both events, scoring 256.65 and 261.00, respectively.
“Tess, Alex and Sarah came up huge on the diving events,” Smyth said. “Without them we wouldn’t be as successful as we were.”
The Terriers maintained their lead by monopolizing the 200-yard breastroke. Tullis touched the wall first at 2:27.23, while sophomore Brigette O’Shaughnessy and Allen claimed second and third, respectively.
Ruggiero picked up her third win of the day in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing in 5:10.80. Sophomore Liisa Young touched the wall five seconds after Ruggiero, claiming second place.
“The key swimmer for our meet was Christina Ruggiero,” Smyth said. “She swam aggressively and gave us the emotional boost we needed — when we needed it.”
Junior Eve Kinsella closed out the meet with a victory in the 200-yard IM (2:10.92), giving BU the extra points necessary to secure their seventh win.
“We are always happy when we come away from a close meet with a win, no matter how it was done,” Smyth said. “We had some spots where we could have been smarter mentally, but overall we did enough to get the job done.”
