The Boston University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams earned a split this weekend in Long Island against the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
After getting off to a disappointing start, the women (1-4, 1-2 in America East) dominated on Saturday and earned their first win of the season. The women claimed first place in 11 out of the 13 events on their way to a convincing 164-77 conference win.
The women got off to a great start with a strong win in the first relay. Senior Kelli Sweeting, senior Laurie Green, senior captain Karissa Lopez and freshman Meagan Breiland combined for the best time of the year in that event.
‘They got the meet started off in good fashion,’ said BU Coach Reagh Wetmore.
The women kept the wins coming throughout the meet. Senior Ingrid Salazar scored first in the 1,000 free. Sophomore Lauren Foster scored a first in the 200 free, which was a strong event for women as freshman Natalie Boyd finished second.
Breiland was a standout once again. In addition to her role in the initial relay win, Breiland won both the 50 and 100 free. It was the third weekend in a row that Breiland claimed first in both events.
Captain Karissa Lopez came through for the team with another strong meet. She helped her team win the first relay and then claimed first place finishes in both the 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley.
Diving remained a strength for BU. Sophomore Sylvia Golle continued her dominance with a win in the three-meter. For the first time all year, however, she didn’t claim the one-meter event, too. Instead, teammate Junior Stacey Gallacher came through with her first win of the season.
The women capped off their strong meet by claiming both first and second place in the final relay. Foster, Boyd and freshmen Hannah Mulry and Kila Englebrook swam in the victory for BU.
Wetmore was pleased with his team’s first winning performance of the season.
‘They swam some good times during this meet to get the win,’ Wetmore said, ‘They just swam really well.’
The men were not quite as fortunate at the women. They lost to Stony Brook, 126-115. The loss dropped the men to 1-3 on the season (1-1 America East). Wetmore attributed the men’s struggles to a bad start.
The men placed first and second in the initial relay but struggled after that event, dropping the next four. Sophomore standout Victor Paguia tried to get the men back on track with victories in both the one-meter and three-meter events, but the men lost the next two events.
However, senior Doug Mark came through with a victory in the 500 free.
‘That was a great win for him,’ Wetmore said. ‘It was a close race but he pulled it out.’
Sophomore Ian Chamberland also helped BU in that event with a third-place finish.
Freshman Ryan Falk helped out with a win in the 200 breaststroke. The men also scored a convincing victory in the final relay. Mark, juniors Ryo Takano and Jay Toutant and freshman Mike Kelly finished first by two seconds.
While the last victory was impressive, it wasn’t enough to put BU over the top. The men lost a couple of events they had expected to win and it put them down too many points.
‘It was just too late,’ Wetmore said, when the men finally managed to string some victories together.
Both the men and women have next weekend off, but they travel to the University of Maine for a meet on Dec. 7.