MARLBOROUGH, Conn. – The Catamounts officially started the 2025-26 campaign Sunday afternoon with a team win at the CCSU Open Water Festival from Lake Terramuggus.
Katie Lester was Vermont's top-finisher in the 5k circuit placing second overall. Four of the top five finishers and six of the top ten were Catamounts. All nine student-athletes that competed for Vermont finished with a time to qualify for the CSCAA Open Water Championships in Sarasota, Florida.
RELATED LINKS
Individual Results
Team Results
COACH'S QUOTE
"I was impressed with our student-athletes performance this morning," said Head Coach
Gerry Cournoyer. "Seeing them compete at a high level this early was impressive. Having all nine of them qualify for the open water national meet in December was icing on the cake."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Vermont brought home the win in the race scoring 21 team points, 35 points better than second place Sacred Heart.
- Lester was second overall with a time of 55:47.29. Sacred Heart's Sophia Velleco was just under six seconds faster on the day.
- Natalie Schlemmer followed with a third-place finish clocking in at 57:20.60. Gabby Puryear-Lynch came fourth finishing 2.99 seconds behind her teammate.
- The other top ten finishers for Vermont included Jocelyn LeGere (5th, 57:25.54), Lilly Acker (7th, 57:46.10), and Autumn Bullinger (9th, 57:49.98).
- With today's Win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to the Lund Family Center through the Cat's Win, Community Win's initiative. Vermont Mutual has donated over $5 Million Dollars since launching their Charitable Giving Fund in 2014.
UP NEXT
The Catamounts full team will be back in action on Saturday, October 4 for a dual meet at Northeastern's Barletta Natatorium. Action will begin at 10 a.m.
Next weekend as a part of UVM Weekend the team will be hosting an Alumni gathering at Four Quarters Brewing (70 Main St, Winooski) on Saturday, Sep. 27 from 6-8:30 p.m. Register at go.uvm.edu/swimalum.
For more news about the Vermont swimming & diving program, follow @UVMswimanddive on Instagram, @UVMswimming on X and Facebook, and visit UVMathletics.com.
Speeder & Earl's Coffee is the presenting sponsor of Vermont swimming & diving
