Rams fall short despite comeback attempt
The Rams lost 192-108 despite wins from Marta Baumann, Julia Renna and Ella Hacker. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
The University of Rhode Island Swimming and Diving team wrapped up the first half of their season in an Atlantic 10 matchup against La Salle University where the Explorers took the win 192-108.
After falling behind 39-7, the Rams struck back in an attempt to take the victory. Third-year Mia Bonvissuto sparked the comeback with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle event, with teammate Quinn Frost coming in fifth to help the Rams.
Ella Hacker took first in the 200-yard butterfly with her time of 2:08.11, followed closely by Shauna Killane who came in third for URI in another event win.
Fourth-year diver Marta Baumann continued her streak of spectacular performances in the 1-meter dive, once again winning with a score of 290.18, edging out La Salle diver Phoebe Shaya with her score of 289.05. First-year Lily Hsu aided in the Rams’ comeback with a third place finish of her own.
Shaya took the top spot in the 3-meter dive, but Rhody second-year Olivia Winslow, Baumann and Hsu claimed the next three spots.
Fourth-year Julia Renna won the 200-yard backstroke in an incredibly close finish as she touched the wall to take first, only 0.01 seconds faster than La Salle’s Rosalla Marin-Martinez; Renna’s official winning time clocked in at 2:08.64.
The team of Renna, Hacker, Mackenzie Thomas and Abigail Zadorozny came in second in the 200 yard medley relay with a time of 1:49.01, just under two seconds behind first.
In the 1000 yard freestyle event, URI’s Maddie Tetreault finished fourth and teammates Rylee Kelly and Sydney Joyce were right behind her coming in fifth and sixth respectively; Tetreault finished with a time of 10:49.01 to lead the team.
URI had another close race in the 100-yard backstroke that featured Renna finishing second with a time of 59.16, slightly slower than Marin-Martinez’s time of 59.10.
Another second place finish by the Rams would hurt their chances of winning the meet as Thomas took second in 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.66. Hannah Benavides, Aimee Garcia and Casey Fusco came closely behind in the event as well, taking places third, fourth and fifth respectively.
The 200-yard breaststroke event concluded with URI’s Emily Makin taking second, one second behind first place, with her time of 2:23.71.
Shauna’s time of 5:24.52 was good enough for fourth in the 500-yard freestyle event, along with Kelly, Joyce and Lyndsey Warner finishing in places fifth through seventh.
URI took the final four spots in the 50-yard freestyle with Camryn Kreuscher leading the way at 25.42 seconds. The last three spots were filled by Frost, Fusco and Zadorozny in the event.
By the conclusion of the meet, La Salle took the win 192-108 in the conference matchup. Despite the loss, most of the competitions were close before the break as the team sits at 5-3.
The Rams are looking to regroup during the winter break and get back in the win column against the University of New Hampshire on Jan. 14 to start off the new year and second half of the season.