CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The 2011 portion of the swimming and diving season winds down and several familiar faces collect weekly conference awards for their performances in the pool this weekend.
Vermont sophomore Claudia Etherington (Perth, Australia/St. Hilda’s) brings in her third Female Swimmer of the Week honor this season and Maine junior Yuri Chornobil (Rochester, N.Y.) nets his second Male Swimmer of the Week nod. Stony Brook sweeps the diving awards this week with freshman Kyle Gannon (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) notching his second Male Diver of the Week award this year and junior Molly Swartz (Grass Valley, Calif./Nevada Union) receives Female Diver of the Week.
Etherington had a big meet for the Catamounts at New Hampshire over the weekend, picking up two individual victories while breaking two UNH pool records and two UVM school records. She swept the two backstroke events, winning the 100 in 56.11 and the 200 in 1:59.47. Both marks broke the UNH pool and UVM school marks. They also were the fastest times in the conference this season. Etherington was also a member of the 200 medley relay team which took first place in a time of 1:47.19.
Chornobil picked up Maine’s only two individual victories in this weekend’s meet at Rhode Island. The junior touched first in the freestyle distance events claiming victory in the 500 (4:53.75) and the 1,000 (10:05.13).
Gannon placed first in the three-meter dive with a school-record score of 429.00 at the ECAC Winter Championship over the weekend. The freshman also tallied 382.95 points in the one-meter dive, good for third in the event.
Swartz set an ECAC Winter Championship meet record and a school record with her first-place score of 406.00 in the one-meter dive. Swartz also won the three-meter competition, registering a score of 381.60 en route to being named the Female Diver of the Meet.
Binghamton will not return to action until after the New Year on Jan. 7 the Bob Mowerson Invite in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Boston University has also completed the 2011 portion of its schedule and will next compete on Jan. 16 against New Hampshire.
The Maine swimming and diving teams competed at the Harold Anderson Invitational this weekend, hosted by the University of Rhode Island. The women’s squad placed third out of six teams while the men placed second out of five teams. The men’s 400 medley relay team of Andrew Mackeil (Biddeford, Maine), Brian Landry (Yorktown, Va.), Andrew Meehan (Brewer, Maine) and Joey Quinn (Bangor, Maine) finished third overall with a time of 3:37.81. That was one of eight top three performances for Maine on day one. Yuri Chornobil (Rochester, N.Y.) picked up the only individual wins for the Black Bear men as he took first in the 500 freestyle (4:53.75) and the 1,000 freestyle (10:05.13). The women’s squad was led by Naja Harvey’s (Orono, Minn.) three top three finishes. Harvey took second place in the 50 free in a time of 24.59 before swimming a leg in the 200 freestyle relay which also finished second with a time of 1:38.44. Her third top three finish was in the 100 breaststroke finishing second just behind the leader in a time of 1:06.56. Maine’s 200 medley relay team picked up the only win in the pool for the women with a time of 1:49.43. Kara Capossela (Greenwich, Conn.) won the three-meter dive for Maine with a score of 260.80. She also finished second in the one-meter dive (230.60). Maine is back in action this weekend with a meet against Bates at home on Dec. 10.
UMBC did not compete last week. The Retrievers return to competition when they travel to Washington, D.C. to take on Howard on Jan. 14.
New Hampshire claimed a 168-132 victory over Vermont on Sunday. Shelli Reed (Hollister, Calif./San Benito) paved the way for UNH, finishing first in the 50 (24.12), 100 (52.48) and 200 (1:52.06) freestyle events. She also swam a leg in the Wildcats’ first-place 400 medley relay team, with the quartet clocking in at 3:32.56. Jessica Little (Barrie, Ontario/Barrie Central Collegiate Institute) collected two individual wins on the day, touching first in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, with times of 1:06.19 and 2:21.9. Ellen Pelletier (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) led the way for the UNH divers, notching the top spot in the one-meter (248.25) and three-meter dive (232.80). New Hampshire is back in action on Jan. 16 when it hosts Boston University at Swasey Pool.
Stony Brook divers competed in the ECAC Winter Championship meet over the weekend. On the men’s side, freshman Kyle Gannon (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) set a program record with a score of 429.00 on the 3-meter board (first place) and also scored a mark of 382.95 on the one-meter platform (third place). Junior Molly Swartz (Grass Valley, Calif./Nevada Union) set a meet and school record in the one-meter dive with a first-place score of 406.00. Swartz also won the three-meter dive registering a score of 381.60. Her performance earned her Women’s Diver of the Meet on Saturday, while Head Diving Coach Dr. Brian Yodice was named Female Diving Coach of the Meet.
Vermont dropped its only meet of the week, falling at New Hampshire on Saturday, 168-132. The loss was the first of the season for the Catamounts, who entered the meet a perfect 7-0. Vermont broke three pool records and three school marks on the day. Senior Avery Pittman (Raleigh, N.C./Enloe), junior Kailey Gardner (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) and sophomore Claudia Etherington (Perth, Australia/St. Hilda’’s) each won two events. Etherington set two new UNH pool marks and two UVM varsity records by sweeping the two backstroke events. She won the 100 in 56.11 and the 200 in 1:59.47. Pittman swept the two butterfly events, winning the 200 in a time of 2:03.01, which broke the New Hampshire pool mark and Vermont record. She also won the 100 in 56.34. Gardner took first place in both the 1,000 (10:19.04) and 500 (5:01.98) freestyle. Vermont is off until Jan. 9 when the Catamounts will travel to face Central Connecticut State.