Stony Brook vs. Maine

ORONO, Maine, November 6. THE University of Maine swimming and diving teams competed for the first time at home Saturday afternoon in their America East opening meet against Stony Brook. The men defeated Stony Brook 160-134 while the women lost to the Seawolves, 184-116. The men were led by Yuri Chornobil (Rochester, N.Y.), freshman James Forest(Columbia, Md.) and Tim Smith (Bangor, Maine) who each won two events for the Black Bears. On the women's side, freshman Courtney Mellish (Barrie, Ontario) picked up a win and a second place for Maine while fellow freshman Kara Capossela (Greenwich, Conn.) swept the diving events for the Black Bears.

The women started things off with a second place finish in the 200 medley relay. Three freshmen, Shannon Bender (Cumberland, R.I.), Erica Smrcina (North Falmouth, Mass.), and Lauren Dwyer (Orono, Maine) teamed with senior captain Caitlin Shelley (Charlottesville, Va.) for the second place finish in the relay with a final time of 1:52.43.

It was a solid day for the Black Bear freshmen as Mellish won the 100 yard backstroke in 1:01.07 and was second in the 200 yard backstroke at 2:11.72. Smrcina won the 100 yard fly for the Black Bears, touching the wall at 59.94. Bender took home a pair of second place finishes in the distance races for Maine. She was second in the 1000 freestyle at 10:47.24 and second in the 500 free at 5:16.40. Capossela swept the two diving events for Maine. She won the three meter with a score of 244.65 and also took home first place honors in the one meter at 255.67.

Helaina Sacco (Rochester, Mass.) had a solid day for Maine as she grabbed a pair of second place finishes. Sacco was second in both the 100 and 200 freestyle events at 55.21 and 1:58.42, respectively. Shelley also scored points for Maine, taking a pair of third place finishes in the 100 yard breaststroke as well as the 200 IM. Shelley touched the wall in the 100 breaststroke at 1:08.01 and was third in the 200 IM at 2:16.04.

The Black Bears ended the day with a second place finish in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:42.76. Swimming the event for Maine was Emily Puleio (Saco, Maine), Kara Dubiel (Carefree, Ariz.), Dwyer and Sacco.

The men won nine out of 16 events on their way to a 160-134 win over the Seawolves of Stony Brook. Chornobil took home first place honors in both the 200 and 500 yard freestyle events in 1:46.80 and 4:48.68, respectively. Forest also won a pair of events for the Black Bears as he was first in the 100 backstroke at 55.87 and also won the 200 IM at 2:01.02. Forest also scored points with a third place finish in the 200 yard backstroke event. Smith was solid on the diving boards for Maine as he won the three meter with a score of 230.25 and also won the one meter event at 257.78.

Jeremy Bender (St. Paul, Minn.) won the 1000 yard freestyle for the Black Bears with a time of 10:09.69. Bender also picked up a pair of second place finished as he was second in the 200 fly at 2:01.15 and second in the 200 backstroke at 2:03.14.

The Black Bears took first, second and third in the 500 yard freestyle with Chornobil taking the top spot followed by Michael Capossela (Riverside, Conn.) at 4:58.31 and Zach Cravens (Ellsworth, Maine) at 4:59.13. Capossela was also second in the 1000 freestyle at 10:21.58 as Cravens placed third in the 200 fly with a final time of 2:03.33.

Brian Landry (Yorktown, Va.) and Andrew Mackeil (Biddeford, Maine) picked up the final two wins of the day for Maine. Landry won the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 2:13.44 while Mackeil was first in the 100 yard fly at 53.13.

Two Black Bears scored a pair of second place finishes. Andrew Meehan (Brewer, Maine) was second in the 200 freestyle as well as the 100 fly. Travis Wibby (South Portland, Maine) took second place in both the one meter and three meter dives.

The Black Bear men ended their team winning day with a second place finish in the 400 freestyle relay at 3:15.52. Racing the event for Maine was Meehan, Daniel Duvall(Durham, N.H.), Dan MacDonald (Melrose, Mass.) and Chornobil.

The Black Bear swim teams return to action on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. when they travel to Keene, N.H. to take on Vermont and Keene State.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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