The Stony Brook Seawolves men and women swim and dive team came into the season ranked fourth and seventh in the America East Conference, respectively. Kicking off the first meet of the season, the Seawolves traveled to Storrs, Connecticut where they competed in the Husky Invitational. The teams had a top finisher in first place and overall had nine top-five finishes.
This year’s up and coming star for the women’s team got off to a big start in early October. Freshman Darcy Heuser, from Centerville, Ohio came into the day competing in the 200-yard freestyle relay with freshman Kelsey Stranc from Chicago, Ill., sophomore Adrienne Policht from Mississauga, Canada and Maja Gudelj from Split, Croatia. The team took the top spot, touching first with a time of 1:41.47. They squeaked past the UConn Huskies, who touched second with a time of 1:41.80. Heuser finished with two more top-five finishes. She took fourth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:01.02 and third in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:15.12. The women finished with two more top five finishers, both in the 400-yard Individual Medley. Freshman Mallory Breen from Quispamsis, Canada took fourth with a time of 4:53.20 and junior Jayme Burns from Lindenhurst, N.Y., touched fifth only eight seconds later with a time of 5:01.89.
The fourth ranked men’s team also had a strong showing in Storrs. Leading the way were freshmen Daniel Kim from Douglaston, N.Y. and Zackery Good from Columbus, Indiana had the top finishes for the men’s team, taking fourth in the 400-yard IM and 1,000-yard free respectively. Kim finished in 4:28.90 and Good touched in 10:13.89. Returning record-breaking sophomore Lukasz Ochmanski from Lodz, Poland took fifth in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:15.34. Continuing the trend of the freshmen leading the Seawolves, Daniel Ortiz from Brentwood, N.Y. touched fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:09.44.
The Seawolves’ next meet will take place next Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. where they will host the University of Massachusetts Minutemen.
