2016 Harvard Invitational
This past Saturday, October 29, NUSC traveled to Cambridge for Harvard’s Fall Invitational. The opposing club swim teams included University of Connecticut, Brown University, Wellesley College, Yale University, and Harvard University. This was NUSC’s second swim meet of the year following the RWB meet, and there were many outstanding swims that highlighted the work the team has been putting into practice. The 200 yard medley women’s B relay, which included Morgan Lenney, Allison Bloom, Sydney Formica, and Tara Toppazzini, made a gigantic splash and out-touched our women’s A relay by 0.29 seconds, getting second overall. Middler freestyle specialist, Sam Pinkes had great swims in the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, and 200 free relay. Freshman Ellie Furuta won the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:06.29, Sam Pinkes finished third with a season best of 2:07.31, and sophomore Emma Coreno dropped almost five seconds with a time of 2:15.00. Middler Alice Renaud swam a season best in the 200 IM and broke 2:30 with a time of 2:29.93. Standout newcomer and backstroke specialist, Tara Toppazzini dropped time in her three individual events, placing first in both the 100 backstroke and 50 backstroke, and third in the 50 freestyle. In the 100 backstroke, Allison Noble had a great finish and beat out a Brown University swimmer by 0.26 seconds. Kassidy Heath, Morgan Lenney, Lexi Laundry, and Veditha Regulapati followed and all had great 100 backstroke swims. Gabby Monasterio, another standout newcomer, dropped time in her 100 backstroke and 50 backstroke. Monasterio got the exact time of 30.79 in her 50 backstroke and 50 butterfly. NUSC dominated in the 500 freestyle; Ellie Furuta claimed first with a 16-second best time of 5:44.17, Allison Noble claimed second with a 13.5-second season best time of 5:49.58, Alice Renaud claimed third with a 12-second season best time of 5:50.64, and Maya Philbrick claimed seventh with a 0.67-second season best time of 6:14.12. Sophomore breaststroke specialist, Ava Asai-Sarris placed second in both the 100 breaststroke and 50 breaststroke, in addition to going out of her comfort zone and swimming the 100 butterfly. Freshman Katie Armstrong had a great meet and dropped time in both her individual events, the 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle, as well as swimming in the 200 free A relay that placed first overall. Freshman Ilayda Alkislar had a solid meet, getting third in the 50 breastroke and shaving 0.05 seconds from her time at RWB. Sophomore Allison Bloom dropped 0.59 seconds to place sixth in the 50 breaststroke, and newcomer Katherine Nikopoulos immediately followed with a best time of 37.14. Freshman Ana Leopold had a stellar meet, going a split time of 31 seconds in the 50 butterfly for the 200 medley C relay and going two seconds faster than her estimated seed time of 1:10.00 in the 100 butterfly. Sophomore Hanalei Fong improved in two of her three individual events, dropping time in the 50 backstroke and 100 IM, and sophomore Sydney Formica broke 34 in the 50 backstroke and placed third in the 50 fly with a time of 29.47. NUSC showed up with impressive newcomers and essential veterans and had an overall great first away meet of the 2016-2017 season. Northeastern will be hosting a swim meet this coming Saturday, November 5th, and hopefully we will see even faster times! Go Huskies! -Hanalei Fong
