By Jonathan Moniz, Staff Writer
UMass Dartmouth swimming and diving team fell short to Bridgewater at the fifth annual Michael Arsenault Memorial relays, placing second in both the men’s and women’s competitions.
The Memorial relay marked the start of the 2016-2017 season. It is dedicated to a past BSU swimmer and All-American competitor who reached the ranks of the NCAA III division honors, Michael Arsenault, who passed away at 52.
There were twenty-seven events at the relay, ranging from the 400 yard relays to 100 yard freestyle and one-meter diving.
Various schools attended the events such as Rhode Island College, UMass Lowell, and UMass Dartmouth.
UMass Dartmouth secured first place in seven of the events, with the women’s team winning four and the men’s team winning three.
Overall, the women’s team placed first in the 400-meter, 300-yard freestyle crescendo, 300-yard butterfly crescendo, 100-yard freestyle crescendo, and the 300-yard breastroke crescendo.
For the men’s competition and team they won the 300-yard freestyle crescendo, 300-yard backstroke crescendo, and the 300-yard breastroke crescendo relay.
A very strong showing by the teams that enabled them to placed second in the overall tournament, just under Bridgewater and above Lowell and RIC.
Notable performances by Faith Poirier from Shrewsbury, Mass. who performed in the freestyle and breastroke competitions, with her quickest time being 30.99 seconds.
Sarah E. Murphy from Braintree, Mass. made a strong showing with her fastest time being 35.34 seconds within the breastroke relay.
In the 100-yard freestyle, Madde McKinney from Foxboro, Mass. also performed very well, with her time being 30.19 seconds.
On the men’s team for the competitions and relays, Joseph M. Bonifacio (West Springfield, Mass.) also performed well within the 300-yard breastroke relay.
Stephen Yezukevcz (Barnstable, Mass.), David Adamski (Wilbraham, Mass.), Nathaniel Groz (Lowell, Mass.), Riley Palmer (Montague, Mass.), and Robert Muir (Barnstable, Mass.) secured the first win of the men’s competition within the backstroke crescendo relay.
For diving, the women’s competition team senior Kendra Herbert from the town of Lowell, Mass., participated and won the one-meter dive, the only diving competition as part of the overall relay.
Her total overall score for the one-meter dive was 95.37, placing her in first.
Overall, however, the Bridgewater State University men’s and women’s team won the competition, placing first in fourteen events.
Second was UMass Dartmouth, with the Rhode Island College and UMass Lowell placing behind them.
Despite the defeat, UMass Dartmouth made a strong showing by taking second place within the competition.
The steady efforts of the swimmers and diver, Kendra Herbert, also helped secure second place and winning seven overall events of the season.
With the performances displayed here at Bridgewater, the Corsairs have opened up on the right foot for the overall season of swimming and diving for the year.
Combined with the prospects of the new season’s increases in potential and the ability to change and improve, this year looks to be a hopeful one.
UMass Dartmouth’s swimming and diving will be competing again in Bristol, Rhode Island at the Commonwealth Coast Invitational at Roger Williams University.