The swimming and diving teams faced strong competition this past weekend in the ‘Jackets’ most successful meet in recent history.
Both teams traveled to the University of Chicago for the University Athletic Association Championships, where Yellowjacket athletes broke 18 school records, posted 12 NCAA provisional qualifying times and had 233 lifetime bests. The results proved that UR put in all the necessary hard work and practice throughout the season.
The men finished in seventh place just three-and-a-half points short of sixth. They earned 751 points, just behind Case at 754.5. Notably, the sprints were strong for the men, as were the diving competitions. In the 200 backstroke, sophomore Kevin Howard came in sixth with an NCAA provisional time of 1:53.84. Freshman Dmitry Petropavlovskiy was 15th in the same event, touching in at 1:56.60.
Sophomore Bobby McCue also placed well, touching in at 2:11.38 for 13th in the 200 breaststroke.
In the shorter distances, the men’s 400 free relay team of freshman Vincent Ness, freshman Wesley Hood, Howard and junior Patrick Messmer was timed in 3:11.90 and a sixth- place finish.
On the men’s 1-meter board, three divers were in the top 10. Senior David Mitsche finished sixth with a score of 352.70. Freshman Kenny Johnson was eighth with a 308.80, and junior Greg Buck was close behind in ninth with a 276.85.
The women also had a solid meet, coming in fifth overall. On the women’s scoreboard, UR had 1,006.5 points. Sophomore Dayna Jacob summed up the general team’s consensus about the day.
‘I think everyone performed better than we anticipated individually and as a team,” Jacob said.
On Saturday alone, the Yellowjackets had two top- eight finishers.
The sprints were especially strong for the women. In the 200 breaststroke, freshman Jennifer Chung placed second, with an NCAA provisional time of 2:26.20. Freshman Bridget Festa was close behind in 12th place in the same event with a time of 2:31.66.
The 100 freestle had many UR women in the top as well. Freshman Emily Scott was fifth, touching in at an NCAA provisional time of 53.09. In the same event, freshman Olivia Ehmann was 11th, sophomore Cailee Caldwell 14th and sophomore Rachel Boldt 16th.
In the 200 backstroke, freshman Val Atwood was ninth with an NCAA provisional time of 2:07.03.
In the relays, the 400 free team of Ehmann, Jacob, Caldwell and Scott was sixth in 3:35.70.
As for the boards, senior Cheryl Blechman was fourth on the 3-meter board with a score of 360.15 and freshman Rachel Delahunta was fifth with 342.30 points in the same event. On the 1-meter board, Blechman placed sixth and Delehunta placed eighth.
Overall, both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams came out strong at the UAA meet this year. They hope to bring this skill determination with them to next season.
Rogers is a member of the class of 2012.
