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University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Swimming & Diving Prepare For Rhode Island Invitational
January 15, 2009 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Jan. 15, 2009
Amherst, Mass. - The men's and women's swimming and diving teams will return to the pool on Friday as they head to Rhode Island for their annual invitational. Both teams recently returned from their yearly training trip to Puerto Rico and finished the trip competing at the Loyola Invitational. The Rhode Island Invitational will be the first invitational-style meet for the teams since November. The meet will begin Friday and wrap up on Saturday.
Mid-season preview
Both swimming and diving teams will have their first look at Atlantic 10 competition at this weekend's invitational as Rhode Island, La Salle, and George Washington will be competing in the women's meet and La Salle and George Washington will compete against the men. Neither UMass team has competed against an A-10 opponent yet this season and will look to this mid-season preview as practice against A-10 competition.
Both the men and women hold strong all-time records against the competing teams, as well as at the Rhode Island Invitational.
A fresh start in the New Year
The class of 2012 has provided the Minutemen with a lot of depth as well as two stand-out performers already this season. Freshmen Joey Sbordon and Jason Cook both still hold an undefeated record in at least one of their events at this halfway point in the season and have been consistent as well as top point earners for the Minutemen.
Sbordon has been a dependable distance swimmer for the Minutemen since beginning his collegiate career in the fall. The Franklin, Mass. native still has yet to be beaten in the 1000 and 500 free while only finishing out of the top spot once in the 200 free. The freshman recorded his best performance of the season with three individual first-place finishes as he led the Minutemen to a top finish BU's Terrier Invitational. Sbordon holds the top times in the Atlantic 10 in the 200 free (1:40.67), 500 free (4:32.13), and the 1650 free (15:56.62) and has earned numerous A-10 and UMass weekly honors so far this season for his top performances.
Cook is the top diver for the Minutemen this season and after placing second the first diving competition of his collegiate career, he hasn't looked back since. The three-meter dive is his best event and an event he has never allowed a competitor to finish better than him in. While he remains perfect in the three-meter dive he has only placed as low as second in his career and he has done that only twice this season, both times coming against BU's Andre Watson. Cook too is atop the A-10 standings in his events and holds the top scores in the one-meter (311.90) and three-meter (359.63) dives. For his top performances Cook earned A-10 Rookie of the Week honors earlier in the season.
Going for three
In their last two trips to the Rhode Island Invitational the Minutemen have returned home with a victory and will look to make it three in a row this weekend. The last time the Minutemen finished outside of first-place at the Invitational was in the 2005-06 season, which was also the same season they missed the top spot at the A-10 Championships.
In last year's invitational junior Juan Moliere, fresh off a team training trip in his home of Puerto Rico, and senior Nate Bromage led the way for the Minutemen. Moliere finished the weekend with two first-place individual finishes as he dominated his usual events, the 50 and 100 free. Bromage added points in numerous events over the weekend, his most notable being a top finish in the 100 fly.
