Northeastern and Wagner opened their seasons in a dual meet on September 26, with Northeastern taking home the victory. One of Northeastern’s freshmen, Kiersten Chu, won the 200 back in her first ever college dual meet. Wagner senior Maggie Shaw swept the distance freestyles. The final score was 162-130.
Northeastern:
BOSTON – Northeastern swimming & diving commenced the 2015 campaign with a 162-130 dual-meet victory over the Wagner Seahawks on Saturday afternoon.
“It was a great start to the season,” said head coach Roy Coates. “It was a great opportunity for us to see where we’re at and where we can go from here.”
The Huskies locked in first-place for 11 out of 16 events, including the first event of the day, the 200 medley relay. Sophomore Christine Leong, junior Taylor Ellis, sophomore Sara Touchette-McGowan and junior Rachel Green finished in 1:46.55.
Touchette-McGowan went on to win the 100 butterfly in 55.89. The sophomore currently holds the school record in the event with 54.36, which she earned at last season’s CAA Championship. She also picked up first place in the 50 freestyle (24.51) and the 100 freestyle (52.99).
Eight Huskies made their debut appearances with the Red and Black, four of which earned first-place finishes.
Junior Kerry Treusdell, a transfer student-athlete from Penn State, produced a victory in the 200 freestyle (1:56.58), while first-years Adrianna Ciebielski and Kierstin Chu also had strong outings in their first NU meet. Ciebielski drew in a time of 1:12.67 in the second heat of the 100 breaststroke and Chu won the 200 backstroke in 2:09.40.
On top in the other events were Taylor Ellis in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.53) and Delaney Lanker in the 200 butterfly (2:08.18).
Sophomores Jacquelyn Gover and Caroline Gonsalves shined on the diving block with first and second place finishes. For the three-meter, Gover locked in first with a score of 254.25 and Gonsalves earned second with 226.89 points. The pair took first and second again in the one-meter (Gover: 249.22, Gonsalves: 239.47).
The Huskies will play host to the Harvard Crimson in an exhibition meet on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 11 a.m. and then hit the road for their first away meet against New Hampshire on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 12 p.m.
Wagner:
Boston, MA – The Wagner women’s swimming and diving team opened the 2015-16 season with a 162-130 loss at Northeastern on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Maggie Shaw (Chantilly, VA / Chantilly) collected her first pair of wins on the season in her individual events, taking first-place in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:43.48 and in the 500-yard free, touching the wall at 5:14.43.
Wagner took first, second and third-place honors in the 500-yard free. Sophomore Maddie McNichol (Downingtown, PA / Henderson) swam a 5:18.51, just behind Shaw to take second place while senior Amanda Lucia (Easthampton, MA / Easthampton) took third with a time of 5:19.76. Lucia also took second place in the 200-yard butterfly, touching the wall with a time of 2:09.17.
Other stellar performances came from junior Anu Nihipali (Honolulu, HI / Hawaii Preparatory Academy) who picked up a pair of wins and a third-place finish in her individual events. Nihipali took first place in the 100-yard back (57.55) and 200-yard individual medley (2:15.10) and third in the 200-yard back (2:11.10).
Other stellar performances came from junior Katja Claesson (Fullerton, CA / Troy) who took first in the 200-yard breaststroke, touching the wall in a time of 2:27.99 and then second place in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.82).
Freshman Dorian McMenemy (Northborough, MA / Algonquin Regional) took second-place honors in all three of her individual events, clocking in at 24.55 in the 50-yard free, 53.52 in the 100-yard free and a 59.19 in the 100-yard butterfly.
Wagner will return to action when they open Northeast Conference (NEC) competition against Bryant at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 17, at Spiro Sports Center.
Swimming news courtesy of Northeastern Swimming & Diving and Wagner Swimming & Diving.