Boston School Golden Eagles vs. UMass Minutemen/Minutewomen
October 5, 2024
College of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass.
Quick Course Yards (25 yards), school twin meet
Full Meet Outcomes
Group Scores
Boston School W 156 – UMass W 142
Boston School M 186 – UMass M 114
A yr and two weeks after the Boston School swimming & diving program was suspended, with some fearing the Golden Eagles would by no means return to varsity competitors, the workforce burst into the 2024-2025 season with a pair of victories over in-state foes UMass on Saturday afternoon. The meet marked the NCAA teaching debut of this system’s new head coach, 12-time Olympic medalist and 5 time Olympian Dara Torres.
Whereas the ladies’s meet was a nailbiter, with Boston School needing a few late wins to drag out a 14-point victory, the boys’s meet was comparatively-lopsided, with the BC males successful by 72 factors.
Whereas Boston School, distinctive amongst Energy 4 packages with out athletic scholarships for his or her swimming & diving program, usually finishes on the backside of the ACC, they nonetheless had numerous upward momentum going into their suspended season. The workforce was enhancing year-over-year each in variety of ACC Championship scorers and common rewrites of the college file books. The trustworthy will now hope that the hiring of Torres, one of many few American swimmers whose stardom transcends the game, will resume that upward momentum.
For UMass, the outcomes are flipped from what is perhaps anticipated – the UMass males had been 2nd eventually yr’s Atlantic 10 Championship meet out of 8 groups, whereas the ladies had been seventh out of 11 squads – and misplaced a lot of high quality swimmers to commencement.
Girls’s Recap
Highlights:
A younger Boston School dash group leads a sweep of the freestyle occasions for the Golden Eagles.
Amanda Calderon had a breakthrough win within the 100 fly after a really quick relay cut up.
The UMass 200 medley relay was their energy final season, however these had been veteran relays. Three of the 4 legs of their squad that positioned third at ACCs have graduated, however none-the-less the Minutewomen roared to a tone-setting two-plus second margin of victory, touching in 1:46.14. That’s thanks partially to the lone returning leg Lindsay Burbage, who cut up 28.94 on the breaststroke leg to open her sophomore season. Coupled with fifth yr Ashley Calderon on the fly leg (25.14 – 1.4 second margin on BC), UMass opened up a 3 second lead after three legs earlier than giving some again on the freestyle leg to BC freshman Lizzie Olpihant (24.04).
The margin won’t inform the complete story, although – BC’s finest back-half was truly on their second relay, which completed 4th. That features one other freshman, Lauren Lee, who anchored in 23.96 because the Golden Eagles rebuild with a younger group of swimmers who resemble their coach Torres, a sprinter.
It was that younger dash group that actually took management for the BC girls in the midst of the meet. Lee and Oliphant went 1-2 within the 50 free in 23.84 and 24.00, each instances sooner than the workforce’s finest of their opener within the 2022-2023 season; whereas Oliphant (52.59) and sophomore Madison Connor (53.35) went 1-2 within the 100 free a number of occasions later.
Lee added a win within the 200 free in 1:54.52. With senior Megan Kramer sweeping the five hundred free (5:10.87) and 1000 free (10:35.92), plus a meet-concluding win within the 200 free relay (1:37.47 – Oliphant anchored in 23.75), the Eagles swept the day’s freestyle races.
The UMass girls, in the meantime, made their hay and saved the meet shut by way of their success in stroke occasions and diving.
That included the aforementioned Calderone main a 1-2 end within the 100 fly, touching in 56.45 – greater than two seconds forward of Boston School’s prime finisher. That’s sooner than she was in a twin meet all of final season by half-a-second as she appears to maneuver into the scoring finals on the Atlantic 10 Championships following a Seventeenth-place end final yr.
Her freshman teammate Hannah Schoenauer received the 200 fly in 2:06.78 and sophomore Lindsay Burbage received the 100 breast in 1:04.01.
UMass dominated girls’s diving, scoring most factors towards simply 1 diver for Boston School. In complete, UMass had a 32-4 diving benefit, together with a 1-meter win from freshman Danielle Guerin, who may present the workforce a lift in an occasion the place they didn’t rating at A-10s final yr.
Males’s Recap
Highlights:
Freshman PJ Nolan kicked off his Boston School profession with a win within the 200 free in 1:41.67.
UMass’ Sammy Quigg swept the dash free occasions in 20.34/45.24, respectively.
The UMass males began out the session with a win within the 200 medley relay thanks largely to a 21.99 butterfly cut up from senior Grant Beebe, however from there-out it was all Golden Eagles. BC received 10 out of 14 swimming occasions on the day.
That included extra optimistic outcomes for the freestyle crew, together with an early win from freshman PJ Nolan within the 200 free.
Nolan, the workforce’s prime recruit this offseason, dominated the race, touching in a successful time of 1:41.67. That was virtually three seconds away from UMass sophomore Cole Brooks, who was 2nd in 1:44.50.
For Nolan, that was the most effective time he has been outdoors of an enormous championship meet, exhibiting off huge progress in his new coaching house.
Junior Ben Huffman put in an identical stage of dominance within the 500 free (4:43.19) and 1000 free (9:48.45), successful the previous by six-and-a-half seconds.
It was not a freestyle sweep for the BC males: UMass junior Sammy Quigg swept the sprints with a 20.34 within the 50 free and 45.24 within the 100 free, in each instances holding off a pack of Golden Eagles behind him. Quigg completed seventh and 4th within the 50 and 100 free, respectively, eventually yr’s A-10 Championships.
The final time BC was within the ACC Championships, Jack Doyle was the workforce’s prime scorer, due to a thirteenth place end within the 400 IM. Even after a yr with out collegiate competitors (he raced in a number of membership meets in lengthy course), Doyle remained one of many workforce’s prime performers, sweeping the breaststroke occasions in instances of 57.28 and a couple of:07.79, respectively.
He additionally touched comfortably first within the 200 IM in 1:51.4, however was disqualified.
Boston School’s males completed the day with a win within the 200 free relay in probably the most thrilling swim of the week. There, Luke Condon held off Quigg for a win in 1:24.33, giving them .18 seconds of margin over UMass.
UMass once more swept the diving occasions, although Boston School was extra aggressive on the boys’s facet. UMass junior Andrew Bell received each springboard competitions.
