SWIMMING & DIVING NOTEBOOK
The undefeated Vermont women's swimming & diving team closes the first half of the season this weekend in Boston when it competes in the annual Terrier Invitational at Boston University's Aquatics Center. Competition runs from Friday (Nov. 18) to Sunday (Nov. 20) with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. Live results are available at the link below.
 
RELATED LINKS
Live Results
 
MANTZ EARNS WEEKLY HONOR
Senior Sarah Mantz was named the America East Swimmer of the Week on Tuesday after leading the Catamounts to their fifth straight win last weekend over Bryant in Rhode Island. Mantz registered a pair of individual freestyle victories on Sunday in a 71-point Vermont victory, winning the 50-yard free in 24.86 seconds and clinching the 100 free in 53.04 seconds. The West Hartford native was also second overall in the 200 free (1:56.04) behind teammate Kelly Lennon.
 
FAST START
UVM (5-0, 3-0 AE) is off to its first perfect five-win start since the 2011-12 season when it began the year 7-0. Vermont's average margin of victory in its five meets this season is nearly 60 points. The Catamounts have a chance to match the 7-0 start from five seasons ago on Jan. 7, 2017 in a double dual meet against UMBC and Howard in Baltimore.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Vermont dominated the Bryant Bulldogs last Sunday afternoon at the Chace Athletic Center Pool and posted a 164.5-93.5 road victory. Shannon Cowley captured the 100-yard breaststroke for Vermont with a time of 1:07.00 and was roughly a second ahead of teammate Haley Gula (1:07.94). Gula (2:27.03) edged Cowley (2:27.59) by half a second to win the 200 breaststroke event for Vermont.
 
Only two hundredths of a second separated teammates Kira Hancock (59.64) and Dani Rocheleau (59.66) atop the podium in the 100 backstroke. Rookie Morgan Montgomery claimed a narrow victory in the 200 backstroke by hitting the wall in 2:08.40. Courtney Gray swam the 100 butterfly in under a minute with a mark of 59.99 to win the event, while Alexy Novelli claimed the 200 fly in 2:11.02 as Vermont swept the podium.
 
SCOUTING THE FIELD
UVM will be competing this weekend against the host Boston University along with Army, Bridgeport, Fairfield, UMass, New Hampshire, and Boston College. Last year, Vermont finished third overall at the Terrier Invitational with 577.5 points in the three-day event. Army won the competition by 20 points over BU with 896.5 points. Cowley and Gula were 1-2 finishers in the 100 breaststroke and each placed top-5 in the 200 breast to lead the Catamounts in Boston.
 
WHO'S NEXT
The Catamounts travel to Florida for their annual training trip around New Year's leading up to the start of the second half in Baltimore on Jan. 7 against reigning America East champion UMBC and Howard. UVM has already defeated the rest of the conference championship field with wins over Binghamton, Maine, and UNH.
 
Speeder & Earl's Coffee is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 women's swimming & diving season