University of Massachusets Athletics
Minutewomen & Diving Teams Ready For Weekend's Invitationals
February 06, 2009 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Feb. 6, 2009
AMHERST, Mass. - The women's swim team will head to Kingston, R.I. this weekend to compete at the New England Invitational while both the men's and women's diving teams will head to West, Point, N.Y. to compete at the Army Diving Invitational. This will be the final competition for both teams before they head to the Atlantic 10 Championships, which begin Wednesday, Feb. 18.
Last Time Out The Minutewomen competed in their final dual meet of the season last weekend as they fell just short to a strong Fordham team, 179-109. It was a day of third-place finishes as they finished the meet with nine of them. Elizabeth Walsh and Karen Upperco led the way as Walsh finished with three third-place finishes and Upperco took first in both of the diving events. Walsh finished third in the 200 free (1:56.66), 100 back (1:01.91), and 200 back (2:09.96) while Upperco notched her top finishes with scores of 264.08 in the one-meter, and 293.85 in the three-meter.
Senior Christa Narus and Sophomore Meghan Nowak were also top contributors for the Minutewomen as they each added two third-place finishes. Narus competed in the 200 fly and 100 free while Nowak swam the 200 and 100 breast.
This marked the second time this season that the women have faced conference competition; earlier in January they previewed La Salle, George Washington, and Rhode Island at the annual Rhode Island Invitational. They were outscored only by the Explorers of La Salle and will head to the A-10 Championships 2-2 in A-10 competition.
Diving Dominance
The men's and women's diving teams have shown their depth and strength all season and will look to continue their domination at the Army Diving Invitational. They have claimed a combined 26 first-place finishes in 10 competitions. Freshman Jason Cook has led the Minutemen with 14 wins this season while the defending A-10 Diver of the Year has paced the Minutewomen with 11 individual first-place finishes this season.
Cook has placed as low as second in the one-meter dive only twice in his career, both times coming against Boston University, and still remains undefeated in the three-meter dive. The freshman has already made his mark at UMass as he set a new school record in the three-meter dive after scoring 297.45 in the first three-meter dive of his career.
Behind Cook has been sophomore Adam Duffield, and junior Byron Johnson who have taken second or third-place finishes in both diving events 19 times this season.
Senior captain Karen Upperco has dominated the board for the Minutewomen as she set a new pool record in the three-meter and brought home nine top finishes this season alone. Upperco has also moved herself to the top of the all-time record books at UMass this season after scoring 310.50 in the three-meter dive at BU's Terrier Invitational.
Senior Sarah Horstmann has also been excelling as of late as she notched two second-place finishes at the Rhode Island Invitational and finished a weekend of home meets with three second-place finishes and a first-place finish.
