University of Maine
Bates
Swimming and Diving Sweep Bates
12/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
LEWISTON, Maine -- The University of Maine swimming and diving teams swept Bates College in a meet held on Saturday afternoon. The women's team came away with a 188.5 - 105.5 victory while the men's team won 176 - 118. Freshman Courtney Mellish (Barrie, Ontario) led the way on the women's side with a pair of wins and also assisted in two of Maine's relay victories. Kara Capossela (Greenwich, Conn.) swept the diving events for the Black Bears. On the men's side it was Yuri Chornobil (Rochester, N.Y.) and Brian Landry (Yorktown, Va.) leading the way as they both had a pair of wins. Tim Smith (Bangor, Maine) also swept the diving events for Maine.
The women kicked things off with a win in the 400 medley relay at 4:06.30. Swimming on the winning team for Maine was Mellish, Caitlin Shelley (Charlottesville, Va.), Erica Smrcina (North Falmouth, Mass.) and Helaina Sacco (Rochester, Mass.).
Mellish had a big day for the Black Bears as she won both the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events. Mellish finished the 100 at 1:02.18 and the 200 at 2:13.68. Shelley won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:20.21 and was second in the 100-yard breaststoke at 1:10.00. She also placed third in the 200-yard IM at 2:18.93. Freshman Shannon Bender (Cumberland, R.I.) also had a win and a second place finish as she was first in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:59.18 and placed second in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:14.11.
Lauren Thornbrough (San Diego, Calif.) snagged a win in the 200-yard fly with a final time of 2:14.50 and placed second in the 100-yard fly at 1:01.91. Smrcina touched the wall first in the 100-yard fly with a time of 1:00.68. Sophomore Jennifer Trodden (Reading, Mass.) picked up a pair of second place finishes. She was second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:30.73 and also placed second in the 200-yard IM at 2:18.86.
Capossela continued her dominance on the diving boards and has now won the last 10 events she has entered. Capossela won the one meter event with a final point tally of 220.20 and placed first in the three meter with 243.22 points.
The women closed out the meet with a first place finish in the 200 freestyle relay at 1:41.46. Swimming the team to victory in the relay was Emily Puleio (Saco, Maine), Lauren Dwyer (Orono, Maine), Samantha Bond (Temple, N.H.) and Mellish.
On the men's side, Chornobil grabbed a pair of freestyle victories. Chornobil won the 200-yard freestyle event with a time of 1:47.23 and also won the 500-yard freestyle at 4:57.10. Landry also picked up two wins for Maine as he touched the wall first in the 100-yard breaststoke with final time of 1:02.53. Landry also won the 200-yard breaststoke at 2:15.35 and was third in the 200-yard IM at 2:05.70. Following Landry in both breaststroke events was Zachary Hamer (Andover, Mass.) who placed second in the 100-yard breaststoke at 1:03.33 and second in the 200-yard breaststoke with a time of 2:19.89.
Jeremy Bender (St. Paul, Minn.) picked up a win in the 1000-yard freestyle and was followed by a pair of Black Bears. Bender won the event at 10:15.40 as Michael Capossela (Riverside, Conn.) followed him up in the race with a time of 10:25.26. Placing third in the 1000-yard freestyle was Brent Williams (Clifton, Maine) at 10:27.68. Bender also placed second in the 200-yard fly at 2:02.70 and was second in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:02.15.
Freshman James Forest (Columbia, Md.) won the 200-yard IM for Maine with a time of 2:02.36. Forest was second in the 100-yard backstroke at 55.38 and placed third in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.94. Senior captain Dan MacDonald (Melrose, Mass.) had a solid day in the sprint races as he placed second in the 50-yard freestyle at 22.83 and was third in the 100-yard freestyle with a final time of 50.41.
Smith dominated the diving boards on the men's side with a pair of victories. Smith was first in the one meter at 252.83 and won the three meter event with a point total of 273.45.
The top placing men's 400 medley relay team was made up of Forest, Landry, Andrew Mackeil (Biddeford, Maine) and MacDonald. The team finished second in the event at 3:42.10. The 200 freestyle relay team of MacDonald, Roy Warren Jr. (North Palm Beach, Fla.), Daniel Duvall (Durham, N.C.) and Andrew Meehan (Brewer, Maine) won the event with a time of 1:30.61
The Black Bears will travel to Florida for their winter training before returning to the pool on Satruday, Jan. 15 when they host Providence College at Wallace Pool.
-U-M-
