The University of Miami swimming and diving team ended the regular season in spectacular fashion on Friday afternoon at the Whitten Center Pool, coasting to wins over Houston and Florida Gulf Coast University by 187-108 and 225-70 scores, respectively.
Before competition began, a pre-meet ceremony honored Miami’s senior class, consisting of swimmers Zorry Mason, Aino Otava, Nicole Sowell and Isabel Traba as well as divers Max Flory, Brodie Scapens and Mia Vallée.
“Today’s meet was a great representation by our seniors. It was a great representation of our team, honoring the seniors and honoring the U,” head swim coach Andy Kershaw said in a Miami Athletics release. “So much credit to our seniors for leading the team throughout this season. As well, a thank you to one of our captains Zorry Mason, who we honored last year on Senior Day, but today was her final full meet here.”
The ‘Canes wasted no time after the festivities, taking first place in 14 of their 16 events in the meet.
Celina Kuehne, Tara Vovk, Mason and Jacey Hinton won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:43.02. Mason made the most of her last home meet by taking the 100-yard backstroke in 57.00 as well.
Adrianna Cera gave the Hurricanes two more first place finishes in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:13.89) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:59.30). Redshirt sophomore Savannah Barr finished the 200-yard freestyle in 1:53.48 for the top spot.
Sophomore Giulia Carvalho won both the 50-yard freestyle (23.95) and the 100-yard butterfly (56.31), while freshman Jane Fitzgerald beat her competitors in the 100-yard freestyle in 52.03.
Vovk continued her stellar outing by taking the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.77) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:18.61). She also finished first in the 400-freestyle relay with Fitzgerald, Hinton and Carvalho in 3:29.32.
Freshman Kate Sommerstad won the 200-yard backstroke (2:05.03) and Emma Sundstrand placed first in the 200-yard IM (2:05.55).
Vallée ended her last regular season meet in Coral Gables, Fla. with a victory in the 3-meter dive, scoring 360.15.
“We certainly did some great things from an execution standpoint. From a times on the board standpoint, we must make sure we have faster swims,” Kershaw said. “Overall, there was great racing and great execution from the team.”
Next up, the ‘Canes will participate in a dual meet on Jan. 27 at Florida Tech in Melbourne, Fla.