Black Bear Swimming and Diving Sweeps URI

ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine swimming and diving teams has very successful days in the pool on Saturday afternoon. The women's team defeated URI 155-145 while the men also picked up a victory over the Rams by a score of 179-98.

The women kicked things off with a victory in the 200 yard medley relay. Emily Buczkowski (Woolwich, Maine), Naja Harvey (Orono, Minn.), Erica Smrcina (North Falmouth, Mass.) and Lauren Dwyer (Orono, Maine) combined to swim a winning time of 1:49.64.

Shannon Bender (Cumberland, R.I.) had another strong day for the Black Bears as she won the 1000 yard freestyle event with a time of 10:51.45, was second in the 200 yard backstroke at 2:12.21 and placed third in the 200 IM, touching the wall at 2:16.66. Buczkowski and Smrcina also had strong individual days as each grabbed a first and second place finish. Buczkowski won the 200 yard backstroke event at 2:12.02 and was second in the 100 yard backstroke at 1:01.20. Smrcina picked up her win in the 100 yard fly, swimming a winning time of 50.52 while placing second in the 200 yard fly at 2:11.28.

Harvey also picked up a win for the Black Bears as she touched the wall first in the 100 yard breaststroke event with a time of 1:06.41. Dwyer had a great day in the sprint events for the Black Bears as she placed second in the 50 yard free at 25.03 and was third in the 100 free at 54.55. Fellow sprinter Jenn Trodden (Reading, Mass.) placed third in the 50 freestyle at 25.29 and touched the wall in fourth in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 55.52.

Camen Linden (Ottawa, Ontario) snagged a pair of third place finishes in both the 500 yard freestyle (5:21.97) and the 1000 yard freestyle (11:01.18) events. Grace Barnett (Bangor, Maine) placed second in the 100 yard fly at 1:01.12 while Courtney Mellish (Barrie, Ontario) added a third place finish in the 100 yard backstroke at 1:02.63.

Harvey, Trodden, Dwyer and Buczkowski also teamed up to take home first place honors in the 200 yard freestyle relay with a winning time of 1:38.34.

On the diving boards it was sophomore Kara Capossela (Greenwich, Conn.) leading the way as she swept both events. Capossela won the one meter dive with a score of 231.45 and was also first in the three meter event at 241.35. Fellow diver Ashley Higgins (Bangor, Maine) placed second in the one meter dive with a final score of 186.15.

On the men's side it was Brian Landry (Yorktown, Va.) picking up a pair of wins for the Black Bears. Landry won both breaststroke events as he was first in the 100 yard breaststroke at 1:00.90 and also won the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 2:12.77. Freshman Ryan Fahey (Quincy, Mass.) won the 200 yard fly at 2:01.58 and placed second in the 200 yard backstroke event at 2:01.77. Robbie Bickford (Milford, Maine) was solid in the distance races as he won the 500 yard freestyle at 5:00.79 and placed second in the 1000 yard freestyle at 10:41.37.

Yuri Chornobil (Rochester, N.Y.) picked up a win in the 200 yard freestyle event, touching the wall at 1:48.19 and also had a pair of third place showings in the 1000 yard freestyle (10:46.29) and the 200 yard breaststroke (2:18.37). Andrew Meehan (Brewer, Maine) picked up a win in the 100 yard fly at 53.51 and was second in the 200 yard freestyle (1:50.01).

Daniel Duvall (Durham, N.H.) won the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 22.77 while Brent Williams (Clifton, Maine) placed first in the 1000 yard freestyle, touching the wall at 10:30.75. Joey Quinn (Bangor, Maine) put together a solid day with a second place finish in both the 50 yard freestyle (22.90) and the 100 yard freestyle (50.78) while also grabbing a third place finish in the 200 yard freestyle (1:52.58). Andrew Mackeil (Biddeford, Maine) also had a great day with second place finishes in both the 100 yard backstroke (57.20) and the 500 yard freestyle (5:02.29).

The men's team also won the 200 yard medley relay as Connor Devers (North Attleboro, Mass.), Landry, Meehan and Duvall combined for a time of 1:39.70.

On the diving boards, Travis Wibby (South Portland, Maine) picked up a first place finish in the three meter dive with a score of 209.02 and also won the one meter event with a score of 228.09.

The Black Bears return to action when they travel to battle Boston College on Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. The women's team will also take on Florida Gulf Coast at Boston College on Nov. 4.

-U-M-