After a solid win against Maine the Wildcats’ now look ahead to something bigger: The America East Championship at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Mass. The ‘Cats went 5-1 this season, with their only loss coming to the Northeastern in a tightly contested matchup. UNH went 4-0 in the America East this season.
The Wildcats have won seven America East Championships, which is tied for the most in league history as they look to bounce back after allowing UMBC to claim the title last year. The three seniors, Anna Burns, Corinne Carbone and Allison Stefanelli are all looking to get a bit of payback this year. Stefanelli claimed first in the three-meter dive last year and third the year before. She is also a three-time All-America Diver and is a seven-time America East Diver of the Week, but she is coming off an injury so that kept her sidelined for the whole first semester so it should be interesting to see how coach Josh Willman will ease her back into action.
Meanwhile, Carbone has an extensive track record at the America East Championship as she has placed first six times and also has a top finish in the 400 individual medley at the National Invitational in 2019. She is one of the best swimmers in the America East and possibly the country, and the internal competition with Sophomore Anna Metzler has undoubtedly made both teammates better.
Since storming on the scene last year, Metzler has been a force to be reckoned with. The German native continued to shine this past year after a record setting first year with the Wildcats. As a first-year swimmer she broke records in the 500 freestyle, 200 backstroke and 400 individual medley on her way to winning America East Rookie of the year. She is a role model for the first-year class, such as first-year swimmer Jamy Lum.
Lum has already impacted the lineup and made the team more balanced. In November’s Terrier Invitational, Lum won the 100 breaststroke and was the fastest swimmer in the 200 breaststroke adding to her other top-five performances that weekend. She has been a consistent part of the way coach Willman rotates through the events and the swimmers. With the flexibility she helps bring to the team it’ll be interesting to see how coach Willman will use each swimmer and diver as they try to put up as many points as possible.
