University of Massachusetts and George Washington University were in Kingston, Rhode Island over the weekend competing at the Rhode Island Invitational (also known as the Rhody Invite). The UMass men dominated their A10 rivals, George Washington, and the University of Rhode Island men’s club team. The women’s meet was much closer but UMass again came out on top, followed by GW and URI.
Women – Team Scores
1 University of Massachusetts 472.50
2 George Washington University 390
3 University of Rhode Island 364.50
Men – Team Scores
1 University of Massachusetts 529
2 George Washington University 369
3 University of Rhode Island 18
In the closely-contested women’s meet, the Minutewomen of UMass showed consistency over the three sessions, coming away with one relay win and 11 individual event titles. Dasha Egkorova, Katie Arnott, Jocelyn Yuen, and Cassandra Sosnovich kicked things off with a 3:59.14 win in the 400 medley relay in the first event of the meet.
Arott had an interesting meet, out-touching or getting out-touched by mere tenths in everything she swam. She won the 100 breast (1:07.77) by .10, the 200 breast (2:25.06) by .55, and placed third in the 400 IM (4:40.63), .03 behind second-place Lauren Law of George Washington. Sosnovich went on to win the 50 free (24.75) in front of teammate Hayley Masi (25.07), and was runner-up to Masi in the 100 free (54.09 to 54.69).
Molly Smyth completed the distance sweep for UMass, winning the 500 free (5:02.27), 200 free (1:54.02), and 1000 free (10:15.91), each time in clear water. Meriza Werenski won the 200 IM (2:10.07 by .18) and the 400 IM (4:31.87), and was runner-up to Smyth in the 1000 (10:38.90). Jocelyn Yuen finished second in both butterflies (58.33 and 2:05.95).
George Washington University won the 200 medley (1:51.02 from Abbey Fusco, Janica Lee, Morgan Zebley, and Hannah Kopydlowski) and 400 free (3:37.32 from Lauren Law, Lee, Kopydlowski, and Zebley) relays.
The Colonials also had many strong individual performances. Zebley brought home gold in the 100 fly (57.62), while Carly Whitmer won the 200 fly (2:05.19) and finished third in the 100 fly (58.45). Lee had three second-place finishes (200 IM, 100 breast, 200 breast) and was fourth in the 200 free. Law touched second in the 400 IM, fourth in the 200 IM, and fifth in the 200 fly. Tatyana Smolyansky was runner-up in the 100 back (1:00.74, .04 ahead of URI’s Hannah Homans) and fifth in the 200 back.
The Rhode Island Rams outpaced the field in the 200 free relay behind quartet Sarah Keshishian, Kate Snyder, Bridget Whalen, and Caitlin Haggan (1:40.21). In the best race of the entire meet, URI tied with UMass for second in the 200 medley relay, both touching in 1:51.11 behind GW’s 1:51.02.
Lauren Folkert was a double event winner with victories in the 100 back (59.17) and 200 back (2:07.93). Whalen was the top Rhody in the 200 IM (fifth), 100 fly (sixth), and 200 fly (third). Keshishian tied for second place in the 200 free with UMass’s Dasha Egkorova; they both came in at 1:57.50. Keshishian was also fifth in the 500 and fifth in the 100 free.
The Massachusetts men’s swimmers and divers dominated the three sessions at the Tootell Aquatics Center, eventually winning 13 of 19 events over the two-day meet. Michael Glenn racked up three wins for the Minutemen, including the 400 IM (4:09.50), 100 breast (58.42), and 200 breast (2:08.29). Oliver Wyeth picked up victories in the 500 free (4:38.19) and 100 back (51.47), and placed third in the 200 back.
Wiktor Karpinski was first to the wall in the 50 free (21.90) and 100 free (48.05), and third in the 100 fly. Owen Wright added a gold and two silvers, winning the 200 IM (1:56.29) and placing second in the 200 free (1:46.18) and 100 free (48.15, just .10 behind Karpinski). Heath Maginn put up a 1:55.78 to take the 200 back title, then finished third in the 400 IM and 200 fly.
Wright, Alessandro Bomprezzi, Brian Stiles and Karpinski went 3:11.85 to win the 400 free relay. The medley relays belonged to the Minutemen as well. Wyeth, Glenn, Wright, and Karpinski cruised to a 3:29.11 victory in the 400 medley relay, while Wyeth, Ryan Bobianski, Tommy Brennan and Christopher Alpay won a tighter 200 race in 1:38.72.
George Washington dominated the 200 free relay. Adam Rabe, Aneil Srivastava, Jarvus Pennington, and Ben Fitch created excitement with a 1:29.06 to 1:29.48 win over teammates Goran Koprivnjak, Gustav Hokfelt, Liam Huffman, and Bogdan Balteanu.
Huffman led the Colonials with a pair of first-place finishes, going 9:41.19 in the 1000 and 1:43.49 in the 200 free. He scored second in the 500 with 4:42.07. Koprivnjak contributed a win in the 200 fly (1:55.09) and two seconds, 200 IM (1:46.45, .16 behind Wright of UMass) and 400 IM (4:11.76). Fitch was the winner in the 100 fly (52.77), runner-up in the 200 fly (1:56.08), and third in the 50 free (22.66). Rabe placed second in both breaststrokes.
University of Rhode Island’s men’s team is a club sport. The Rams scored 18 point from divers David Cummings. Trent Kindvall won the 1-meter event for UMass.