Jumbos compete against one another in annual scrimmage

The men and women's swimming and diving teams competed last Friday in a meet that was a little different.

The squads joined forces for their annual "Brown and Blue" meet, a fun, lighthearted, intrasquad event, giving incoming freshman much needed experience heading into the season.

"The meet was a low key way for the all of the new freshmen to get some meet experience and make them feel like they are part of the team," sophomore Meghan Wallach said. "It was also a fun way for us to get to know each other, too."

Coaches Don Megerle and Nancy Bigelow and captains Kaili Mauricio, Jamie Meyers, Greg Schmidt, Amanda Bloom, Mika Sumiyoshi, and Kierstyn Thayer organized the event. Each squad was divided into two teams, one brown and one blue, appropriately.

The teams raced in three relay events, with each team consisting of three boys and three girls, and several other shorter distance stroke events, including the 50, 100, and 200 meter freestyle, and the 100m backstroke, butterfly, individual medley, and breaststroke.

"The team looks really good this year," Wallach said. "The freshmen did well and are already showing that they are going to help the team. Mika looked great, she's already beating her record times in various events."

Sumiyoshi echoed Wallach's positive outlook.

"Although it wasn't a real meet, people were able to sprint very well and surprise themselves," she said. "We were not completely serious and still people got close to their best individual times, which hopefully is an indication of how the rest of the season will turn out."

The teams also used the meet to bring the men's and women's sides closer together, as they have been relatively divided in previous years.

"It was nice to have the men's team out there as well, because usually we're kind of separated," Sumiyoshi said. "It was fun because everyone was cheering for everyone else, the guys for the girls, and the girls for the guys."

Although they didn't keep score, the Jumbos showed their competitive spirit and raced hard in their events, with hopes of proving themselves early on in the year.

"This meet was really just to get the team together and get us pumped up about the beginning of the season," Wallach said. "Because this is a new team, it takes some time to get adjusted. It was a fun competition, and everyone's really excited about the season."

All four classes are coming in looking very strong, especially this year's freshmen

and seniors.

The freshmen are led by Aliana Thiel, Jessica Bollinger, and Dierdre Cannell, all of whom have come out early and raised some heads.

The seniors are led, as always, by Sumiyoshi, who is coming off her All-American performance in the 400 IM at Nationals last winter. The senior tri-captain broke her individual record in the 100 butterfly already this season, and hopes to lead the Jumbos past regional powerhouses Williams, Amherst, and Middlebury this season.

"This year I started swimming seriously in September," Sumiyoshi said. "In my three previous years, I only started swimming seriously when the season began."

The Jumbos look to showcase their talent against the Connecticut College Camels this Saturday at UMass Dartmouth.