The Rhode Island swimming and diving team took home some hardware this past week as they took first out of seven teams at the Harold Anderson Invitational.
The Rams played host to the 24th Harold Anderson Invitational on Nov. 22, and following a successful start to their 2020-2021 season, the team dominated the leader boards once again. The Rams had pressure to win the invitational and to keep their winning streak going, as they had placed first for the past 13 years. The seven teams that attended included Assumption College, Binghamton University, College of the Holy Cross, University of Maine, Providence College and the University of Vermont.
On the first day of competition, the Rams already put themselves in the lead with a score of 245.5, 59 more points then Binghamton, who was in second place. Holy Cross, Vermont and Assumption trailed behind Binghamton, but they were still in the competition battling for the top three team spots.
Senior Katy Evans was a huge contributor to the Rams, scoring 255.60 in the one-meter dive, breaking the meet record that was set by Phil Ann Dixon from Maine last year. Rhody’s Alyssa Campone and Fallon Pfeifer took third and six in the event, respectively
The 400-yard medley relay team consisting of Julia Renna, Rebecca Younts, Caitlin Guccione and Aimee Garcia also took first place in their event. Younts also placed sixth in the 200-yard individual medley. Guccione tied for 14th in the 50-yard freestyle.
On day two, Evans had another fantastic performance, which helped the Rams keep their lead. With a winning score of 255.30 in the three-meter dive and a new personal record for herself. Another victory helping the Rams keep their lead was made by the 200-yard medley relay team consisting of Renna, Younts, Guccione and Kreuscher, who beat Assumption to the wall by .20 seconds. The win added 40 points to the leaderboard. The Rams also took the win in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The relay team consisting of Garcia, Cara Megill, Zoe Sherdian and Mackenna Dunn, also set a meet record with the time of 7:40.97. Garcia also placed fourth in the 400-yard individual medley, Guccione placed second in the 100-yard butterfly, and Megill placed fourth in the 200-yard free.
There were six events on the last day, and Guccione, a senior, took one of them winning the 200-yard butterfly by two seconds. In the 200-yard breastroke, Younts and senior Cassidy Fries took second and third place, respectively. Sophomore Kailtyn Bansky also placed fifth in the 200-yard backstroke.
At the end of the meet, Rhode Island had accumulated 754.5 combined team points, and Binghamton, the next closest team, had 613.5.
Next up, the Rams will be racing Richmond in Florida on Jan. 3.