This weekend the UR men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams put on dominating performances as they hosted SUNY Fredonia and Mercyhurst College in a triangular meet at the Speegle-Wilbraham Aquatic Complex. The men scored a total of 152 points, which was good enough to earn victories over Mercyhurst and Fredonia, who totaled 93 and 36 points respectively.
Going into the meet the men knew what they needed to do in order to be successful. UR clearly outmatched Fredonia, but on paper the Mercyhurst men had stronger swimmers. The men really stepped it up and started the meet with fire.
“Getting a good start was one of our goals,” head coach Julie Benker-O’Brien said. Early success was found when the men claimed first and second in their first event, the 200-yard medley relay. This gave the Yellowjackets a quick 15 points and they never looked back. “Throughout the meet, we swam as a team, not individuals, which is a great sign for us heading into the upcoming Ithaca and UAA meets,” Benker said.
Though there was a team mentality in the meet, a few individuals had standout performances. Junior Mike Mc Cormick participated in four events and placed first in all four events. He recorded a lifetime best time in the 200-yard freestyle and nearly had a second lifetime best in the 100-yard butterfly. Mc Cormick was also a member of two winning relays — the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Sophomore Alex Blakeney also had a special meet, recording a lifetime best time in the 1650-yard freestyle swim. While swimming the mile Blakeney posted personal best splits at the 500-yard and 1000-yard points.
Another athlete that stepped up was sophomore Dick Bailey, who had an outstanding split in the 200-yard medley relay and put in a strong performance in the 100-yard breaststroke.
After two wins the men have moved to 4-4 on the season and will look to use their victories as a springboard when they face off against rival Ithaca College this weekend. Ithaca should be a challenging meet, and will serve as good preparation for the highly competitive UAA meet.Women’s results
En route to another pair of wins, the women put in a dominating performance, knocking off Fredonia and Mercyhurst to remain unbeaten and move to 8-0.
Neither school could put up a challenge for UR, and the women approached the meet with a lax attitude. “Unfortunately the girls were a little flat, luckily the teams weren’t as good as us, but we cannot afford to relax with the Ithaca and UAA meets approaching nearer by the day,” said Benker.
To date the women have had an easy time dual meets, but they must find their intensity in order to compete with the UAA’s best.
Fitzsimmons can be reached at afitzsimmons@campustimes.org.
