By Harrison Leone
Assistant Sports Editor
With its final home meet in the books, the women’s swimming and diving team is preparing for the home stretch of the 2012-‘13 season. The next challenge for the Bonnies will come tomorrow as the team travels to Buffalo. The meet will be a rematch of the Feb. 4 contest held last year at the Reilly Center where Buffalo bested the Bonnies, 149-92.
“UB has phenomenal facilities,” Head Coach Seth Johnson said. “It’s a little older now, but it’s still one of the nicer pools you can visit.”
This past weekend, the Niagara University Purple Eagles came to St. Bonaventure to compete in a dual meet. The Bonnies were able to score a victory against their Mid-Atlantic conference foes, 170-74.
SBU was led by performances from its deep freshman class. First-year swimmers Hope Andrews, Erin Cervone and Elizabeth Malone were all able to tally first-place finishes in their respective events.
“I was very happy with how we swam,” Cervone said. “The results were good. Everyone was able to give us strong swims.”
The Closter, New Jersey native finished in first in both the 500- and 1000-yard freestyles.
Also taking the gold for the Bonnies was sophomore Meaghan McCann. She won the 100-yard backstroke in addition to coming in second in the 50-yard freestyle.
“The Niagara meet went really well,” McCann said. “The pool was a little cold, but we overcame that and were able to put together a strong meet.”
The victory brought the Bonnies’ record to 7-2 at dual meets. The only losses came against Cleveland State and Pittsburgh.
With only one more meet in the regular season, the approaching conference finals held at Akron University are, as they have been for the entirety of the season, the team’s top priority. The remainder of the season will see the girls tapering their training regimens so they will be well-rested for the Atlantic 10 finals, which take place Feb. 21.
“We’ve put in the work,” Johnson said. “We’ve been going hard for five months. For those 18 days between the UB meet and the A-10s, we’ll be physically and mentally preparing ourselves to be able to swim fast at the championships.”
The Bonnies have some experience with Akron’s facilities, as they traveled there to compete in the Zippy Invitational in early December.
“It definitely helps when you know what the pool is like,” Cervone said. “When we went earlier in the year, my turns were awful, so I’ve known to focus on working to improve those.”
Johnson agreed that already having swum at the Spire Institute, where the A-10s are held, will help his team.
“Getting to swim the meet at Akron helped us get acclimated to the environment,” Johnson said. “It’s like if our basketball team got the opportunity to play a game at the Barclays Center before their tournament.”
Johnson has prominently displayed the countdown to the A-10s in the Reilly Center pool to keep the team focused. The members of the team are well-aware of the dwindling numbers of days until the meet.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking, but we’ll be going through it together,” Cervone said. “We’re a very close team and I think we’re all excited.”
McCann agreed with Cervone’s assessment.
“I’m excited for it, it’s going to be fun,” McCann added. “We’re definitely prepared. Our freshman will help us out, we’ve got great depth.”
Johnson praised his team’s talent and success in addition to saying the squad is built for long-term success.
“This is the most talented team we’ve had in a while. Our dual-meet record is far and away the best since I’ve been here,” Johnson said. “With so many underclassmen and only one senior, this isn’t something that’s going to be a one-year thing. We’re looking to sustain our success.”
