The meet opened with the 400-yard medley relay, and the squad of John Ancona '07, tri-captain Rick Estacio '06, Andrew Maslan '08 and Ethan Treat '07 took first-place by over three seconds.
The 1,000-yard freestyle event followed, and senior tri-captain Adam Lewkowitz and first-year Alec Goldfield took second and third, respectively. In the second long-distance event, the 500-yard freestyle, Lewkowitz took fourth, while Ed Hagerty '07 came in third and C.J. Holmes '09 took fifth.
"[Hagerty] has stepped up in the past few meets to give us huge contributions in a wide variety of events," commented senior tri-captain Tommy Gonnella enthusiastically. "His comeback in the 500 was really inspiring to the rest of the team, showing everyone not to quit at the end of races despite being tired."
The Jeffs continued to struggle to muster a win against the Pride's strong freestyle lineup, but prevailed with a significant number of second- and third-place finishes. Hagerty and Maslan took second and third in the 200-yard freestyle, respectively, while first-years Chris Resler and Joe Scala finished second and third, respectively, in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events.
Amherst fared much better in the non-freestyle races. In the 200-yard individual medley, Treat, Estacio and Derek Prill '08 took the top-three places, while Estacio, Andrew Vasta '08 and Joe Bethards '09 registered the fastest three times in the 200-yard backstroke. Treat also won the 200-yard butterfly, while Holmes and senior tri-captain Tommy Gonnella took third and fifth, respectively.
Sophomore divers Connor Boyd and Adam Bookman faced a tough Springfield squad. Boyd took third-place in both the one-meter and three-meter events, while Bookman placed fifth in each.
After the diving, two events remained: the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard freestyle relay. Only a few points separated the two teams, and the Jeffs needed top times in both events. In the breaststroke event, Hagerty, Ancona and Prill finished in first, second and third, respectively to put the Jeffs in the lead. The freestyle relay team of Lewkowitz, McCune, Resler and Mike Waskom '09 finished a mere 0.34 seconds behind Springfield's top relay squad, but the second-place points gave Amherst enough for the win. The Jeffs ended the meet with a 123-120 victory, ending their dual meet season win an impressive 8-1 record.
"The underclassmen maintained their focus and stepped up-especially the breaststrokers and backstrokers-to try to give us seniors a win in our last dual meet," said Lewkowitz. "We are all impressed with their dedication and hard work this season, and they show great promise for the future." Estacio added, "It is good to know that the team is in good hands for success in years to come.
Amherst will dive back into action at the NESCAC Championships on February 24-26 at Williams College. Amherst and Williams claim the majority of top times in the conference and are expected to dominate the championship meet later this month.
"Our team is incredibly deep and versatile," said Estacio. "For the first time since I've been here, we have more than enough swimmers to fill the roster at NESCACs."
NESCAC Notes
The Middlebury College men's team, has ended its season prematurely. After a recent incident, the Panthers did not swim at the Middlebury Invitational that they hosted at their pool on Saturday and will not be competing in this season's NESCAC Championships at Williams.
The official statement issued by Middlebury said the following:
The varsity men's swimming coach became aware that the athletes violated agreed upon team training rules, which involved drinking, [and] decided to end the season immediately. Middlebury is an educational institution that believes all students need to learn their actions have consequences. The bad choice made in this instance is disappointing, but the discipline is appropriate. The coach made the decision independently, but he has the full support of the Athletic Department and the college administration.
While the Panther women will finish their season, the men end theirs with a winning record of 5-4. Middlebury's absence at the conference championships will open the path for both Amherst and Tufts University to try and catch Williams as the Ephs strive for their fourth-straight championship title.