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Alfond Arena won’t be the only venue for an athletic border-war this weekend. The University of Maine swimming and diving teams host the University of New Hampshire Saturday at 2 p.m. at Wallace Pool in Alumni Gymnasium. The dual meet is the final event for both schools before the America East Championships.
“This is our last real chance to get our best times of the season and to see if we have any possibilities of placing in the top heat at championships,” Black Bear senior co-captain Brian Forrestall said.
The UMaine men lost to the Wildcats in their last two head-to-head meetings, but Forrestall feels Saturday’s outcome will be different.
“This year the men have a good chance of beating UNH for the first time since I’ve been here,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get a strong lineup and everyone is feeling well enough to swim their best.”
The Black Bear women have also fallen to UNH the past two years, but the meets have been fairly close. Last year in Durham, N.H., the UMaine 200-yard medley relay team of Griffin O’Connor, Stephanie Smeitana, Katrine Alcaide and Krystal Fogler set a new school record with a time of 1:49.01. Head coach Jeff Wren expects another competitive showing against the Wildcats.
“We’ve never had a bad UNH meet,” Wren said. “It’s just a meet that we rise to the occasion for. We want to match up well and just race hard. I think they’ll leave here knowing they’ve had a number of good challenges.”
Strength in numbers may benefit the Black Bear men. The Wildcats have only 11 swimmers on their roster compared to UMaine’s 16. The Black Bears also outnumber the UNH divers, 3-1. The points awarded in the 1-meter and 3-meter events could determine the outcome of the meet.
“We have the depth but they probably have a few more front-line swimmers,” Wren said. “Diving in the conference is not strong especially in men’s. Our guys are really coming along and they could get some crucial points.”
Wren said the Wildcat women have fewer front-line swimmers than a year ago, but they have some very good young racers. Freshman Amanda Paul has recorded multiple victories in backstroke and freestyle events while sophomores Ashley Fish (butterfly) and Kristen Nardozzi (freestyle) are UNH’s best in their respective events.
With the conference meet two weeks away, both UMaine squads will be giving it their all.
“The dual meets are really rehearsals for what you want to do [at championships] and to test yourself as a racer,” Wren said. “One of the things we say in pre-meet talks is if you find yourself close to somebody at the end, beat them to the wall.”
