Maine traveled to the University of Rhode Island (URI) to face the men’s club team (0-1) and the women’s division 1 team (2-0) for their first meet of the season where they picked up a win and a loss for the University of Maine men’s (1-1) and women’s (0-2) team respectively. The men’s team’s victory came off a strong 200 medley relay performance along with many individual first place finishes. The men took a commanding win with a 184-68. For the women, the contest was within reach, but they fell just short with a score of 171.5-124.5 .
The men picked up their first win in their first event, the 200 medley. The team consisted of fourth-years Timothy Edison and Nicholas Sundquist and first-years Ryan Boll and Calvin Cleworth. Their time of 1:42.83 was enough to pick up 11 points. UMaine also placed second in the 200 medley. The team consisted of second-years Spencer Lindsley and Coulter Morrill, third-year Kevin Clyne and third-year Eric Delmonte, a transfer from Virginia Tech. They took away four points with a time of 1:44.75.
Third-year Alexander Penn took first place in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:53.31. Delmonte was right behind him with a time of 1:54.66. Maine was able to take all but one point in this event as first-year Hawthorne Swan-Scott finished with a time of 1:59.02, good for third place and three points.
Sundquist dominated in his individual events as he took home first place finishes in the 50 backstroke and the 50 butterfly. His times of 25.37 and 23.85 respectively were enough to give Maine 18 points.
Boll excelled in the 50 breaststroke and the 100 freestyle. He managed to record times of 28.40 and 50.48 respectively. In both events combined, Maine took all but six points available.
Lindsley achieved victory in the 100 butterfly with a time of 58.78. He did so by just barely edging out Maine’s second-year Jake Gutkes, who recorded a time of 58.91. Maine took all but three points in available in this contest as well.
In the 50 freestyle, Cleworth finished first with a time of 23.12. Cleworth also recorded a win in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.57.
Maine recorded a win in the 100 breaststroke as Morrill finished in 1:03.06.
Second-year Sean Driscoll finished the 500 freestyle in 5:14.40 giving Maine the win in that event as well.
Maine’s women found some individual success as well as with their 200 medley relay team. The team consisting of first-year Megan McGillivray, Sabrina Nuttall and second-years Emma Pontius and Juliana McDonald placed first with an official time of 1:48.43.
Second-year Chloe Adams took first in the 200 freestyle with her time of 1:57.70.
McDonald shined in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.97, enough to take first place and nine points.
Maine took first in the 200 individual medley as first-year Shayla Rose Kleisinger finished with a time of 2:14.60.
Maine was also victorious in the 100 butterfly as second-year Victoria Kingston finished in 59.69.
UMaine falls against Bryant
After a solid performance against URI, Maine headed to Bryant (women 3-0, men 2-1) to round out the weekend. Both the men and women’s teams suffered losses, 162-99 and 143-119 respectively.
For the men, many familiar names continued to excel in their corresponding events. Delmonte took a win in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:00.34. He also took first place in the 200 breaststroke with his time of 2:29.37.
Cleworth finished first in the 200 butterfly with his time of 2:03.15.
Sundquist found success in the 50 freestyle, recording a win with his time of 22.21. His 100 butterfly effort also produced a win with a time of 52.41.
In the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, Maine finished in first place. The team consisting of Penn, Sundquist, Morrill and graduate student Shane Kinnon recorded a time 3:16.76 which was good enough to give Maine 11 points. They edged out Bryant’s team by a mere 0.17 seconds.
The men’s captain Timothy Edison was disappointed with the loss but eager to see Bryant again.
“Some good swims on both sides today, but we need to be better,” Edison said. “We need to do a better job. We have 4 weeks to get ready until we see Bryant again at the URI invite.”
On the women’s side, the score was closer as Maine kept Bryant within 30.
Maine took first in the 200 medley relay. The team from the URI meet, McGillivray, Nuttall, Pontius and McDonald, posted a time of 1:50.29 which was two seconds slower than the time they posted the day before but still good enough for 11 points. Bryant’s team was less than a second behind.
Nuttall found a win in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:06.61. Nuttall also took third place in the 200 breaststroke behind Bryant’s first-year Eliza Brant and Maine’s first-year Emma Blackdeer. Blackdeer’s time of 2:29.37 was good enough to give Maine nine points.
Kingston won the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:13.26. Pontius was right behind her with a time of 2:13.79. Maine took all but five points in this contest.
Pontius won the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.60. This time Kingston was right behind her with a time of 59.91. In individual competitions, Pontius and Kingston combined for a total of 26 points.
The weekend put the Black Bear men at a 1-1 record while the women start off 0-2. They are taking a rest for the week as they prepare for a home meet versus the University of Vermont on Saturday, Nov. 5. The Bryant teams will travel to New Rochelle, N.Y. to compete at Iona on Sat, Oct. 29 with a start time scheduled for 2 p.m.
