Terriers Lose Close Decision To UMass, 154-146
November 8, 2003 | Women's Swimming & Diving
AMHERST, MA-For the second straight week, the Terrier women's swimming and diving team fell behind by more than 30 points early in the meet and then staged a valiant come-from-behind effort. Unfortunately, it came up just short against UMass on Saturday, Nov. 8, in a 154-146 setback.
Last Saturday, the Terriers spotted New Hampshire a 31-point lead but managed to come back with an outstanding effort to tie the Wildcats, 150-150.
At UMass, B.U. trailed by 35 points after the first five events before it started a rally that came up just short. During the second half of the meet, the Terriers captured eight events which left them just short of the mark.
Once again, the charge was led by sophomore standout Lidija Breznikar (Kotpje, Slovenia), who won three of the most difficult events on the schedule-the 200-yard butterfly, the 200-yard breaststroke, and the 200-yard individual medley. She won the fly in 2:08.20, the breaststroke in 2:22.19, and the IM in 2:10.32.
"Lidija swam great again," said Terrier head coach Reagh Wetmore. "When she wins an event, she seems to pull the team along with her. She has done an excellent job thus far for us in three of the toughest events on the schedule.
"Her strengths are her flexibility and her strokes," the coach continued. "Her strokes are perfect. You have to go far and wide to find someone with her strokes. In fact, her crawl is the best I have ever seen."
Also contributing to the comeback with high-place finishes was sophomore Meagan Breiland (Mesa, AZ), who won the 100-yard freestyle race in a personal best time for the season of :54.09 seconds and who finished second in the 50-yard freestyle at 25.19 seconds. Senior Kelly Sweeting (Sarasota, FL) took the 200-yard backstroke in 2:10.95. The Terriers also won the final event-the 400-yard freestyle medley relay that included sophomore Natalie Boyd (Pittsburgh, PA), freshman Selina Herdman (Melville, NY), freshman Marina Morie (Honolulu, HI) and Breiland. They had a time of 3:37.94.
Senior Stacey Gallacher (Horseheads, NY) won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving contests for her second straight meet, scoring 226.94 and 222.82 points, respectively, while freshman teammate Megan White (Falmouth, ME) finished right behind her in both events as well, with 216.30 and 203.70 points. The Terriers were without the services of senior diver Kristin Stratton (Aurora, CO), who sprained her ankle in practice on Friday and was not able to compete.
Second places were also secured by Herdman in the 1000-yard freestyle with a season-best 10:51.62; Boyd in the 200-yard freestyle (1:59.94), Sweeting in the 100-yard backstroke (1:02.41), junior Lauren Foster (Lake Quivira, KS) in the 500-yard freestyle (5:19.82), and freshman Tanaz Irani (Orlando, FL), who same the 100 fly in a personal-best 1:06.1.
