The University of Maine men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams travelled to Bryant University to compete in a dual meet on Bryant’s senior day. The women’s side had a strong day, taking down Bryant 134-128, while the men’s team struggled, falling 184-78.
Men’s team comes up short
Third-year Matt England continued his season of dominance, taking first place in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events. He also captured second place in the 200-yard backstroke.
Fourth-year Ryan Fahey competed well in his last meet, taking first in the 200-yard butterfly and third in the 200-yard breaststroke.
The Bulldogs were led by fourth-year Graham Beck, who took home a pair of victories in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke. Second-year Pierre Le Guyader, first-year Ben Schulte and third-year Joshua Bjonberg each won two events for Bryant as well.
The big event for Bryant was the 50 meter freestyle, which they took the top three spots in, led by Le Guyader.
Harvey, Murray come up big for UMaine
The women’s team was able to come away with a big win by a slim margin. The Black Bears were led by fourth-year Naja Harvey, who took first in two individual events and was part of two first-place relay teams.
The 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays were strong points for the Black Bears, as they took first in both races. The 200-yard freestyle relay was one of the closest races of the day, with the Black Bears pulling out a victory by less than half of a second. The freestyle relay team was comprised of Harvey, second-year Katerina Mosquera-Cardi, second-year Tessa Lindsley and first-year Emily Borger.
Second-year UMaine swimmer Emily Dowd took first in an otherwise Bulldog-dominated 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:51, edging out Bryant first-year Nicole Salzano by under four seconds.
The Bulldogs got strong contributions from fourth-year Mara Valenzuela, who won a pair of events for the third meet in a row. Salzano also took a pair of first-place finishes in addition to her second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.