MIT (DIII) Women Take Down Boston University; Terrier Men Claim Narrow Victory

MIT (DIII) vs. Boston University

• January 10, 2025
• Zesiger Center Pool, Cambridge, MA
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Meet Results (LINK PDF)
• Team Scores
  • Men: BU 141, MIT 139
  • Women: MIT 188.5, BU 92.5

The MIT women emerged victorious in their second D1 match-up of the season, defeating Boston University for the first time in program history in a Friday night dual.

The men’s meet was much closer, as BU fought back from an early deficit to claim a two point victory over the Engineers.

Both teams were suited for the meet, which followed a modified format. The 1000 free was not contested, and the stroke 100s were replaced with 50s.

Women’s Meet

The MIT women won 12 of the 15 contested events as they picked up their second victory over a Division 1 team this season. The Engineers opened their season with a win against another Boston-area school, Northeastern.

The Engineers opened the meet with a dominant win in the 400 medley relay, touching first by over four seconds. Division 3 record-holder Kate Augustyn opened in 55.57, followed by Sarah Bernard (1:02.15), Alex Turvey (55.35), and Ella Roberson (51.51). Augustyn’s time would rank within the top 10 of D3 this season, though she already leads the rankings with a 53.68 swim from mid-season.

Augustyn went three-for-three in individual events, swimming a trio of 200s. She won the 200 free (1:51.93), 200 back (2:00.68), and 200 IM (2:03.99). Her time in the 200 IM was a season best by over two seconds and slots in as the #7 time so far this season.

First-year Sarah Bernard added another school record to her resume, dominating the 500 free (4:53.11) to cut over a second from the previous record which had stood for 13 years. That time was over a two second improvement from her previous best. Bernard also won the 50 breaststroke with the only sub-29 second effort (28.94).

Roberson was the only other athlete to win two individual events. She completed the sprint double, winning both the 50 (23.33) and 100 (51.59) by over 0.5-seconds.

A pair of first-years picked up BU’s only victories in the pool. Cambria Jewett won the 200 fly in a season best time (2:04.00), improving on her previous best from November’s Terrier Invite by over four seconds. Anna Winter also set a season best en route to the win in the 200 breast (2:21.17).

On the boards, BU senior Sophia Souza led the field in 1-meter, scoring 300.45 points. MIT sophomore Fiora Beratahani won the 3-meter event (314.33).

The Engineers capped off a strong meet with a win in the 400 free relay, with Turvey (51.30), Belise Swartwood (52.63), Lillian Poag (52.47), and Roberson (50.06) teaming up to touch ahead of BU’s A squad by nearly two seconds (3:26.46).

Additional Highlights:

• Senior Iris Yang (MIT) won the 50 backstroke in a personal best (25.65). Yang also led off MIT’s B 400 medley, posting 55.84 for a time that would rank in the top 10 of Division 3 this season if she had not already swam faster at midseason.
• Alex Turvey won the 50 fly (25.31) as MIT swimmers posted the six fastest times in the event.

Men’s Meet

The Terriers fought back from an early points deficit to win the meet by just two points. It was a much closer competition than the women’s meet, as only two athletes won more than one individual event.

MIT jumped out to an early lead with a 1-2 finish in the 400 medley relay. The A team of Aitor Arrese-Igor (48.88), Grant Hu (55.40), Jalen Evans (49.40), and Eugene Jiang (45.56) combined for 3:19.24. Arrese-Igor and Hu had the fastest splits of the field.

Aaron Martin threw down the fastest anchor split on MIT’s B relay to pass BU’s A in the final 50 (44.83). The Terriers’ team of Jonny Farber (50.49), Andy Carlson (56.24), Jed Tan (49.05), and Charlie Nenchev (45.19) finished in 3rd by just 0.06-seconds. Tan’s split was the fastest of the field.

The Engineers kept the momentum rolling as they won the next three individual events: Nathan Kim won the 200 free by over a second (1:38.98), Arrese-Igor posted 22.85 to take the 50 back, and Aaron Martin picked up his first of two individual wins in the 50 breast (25.69).

The pendulum started to swing in BU’s favor as Giovanni Sullo and Ben Cho took back-to-back victories in the 200 fly (1:51.81) and 50 free (20.84). Combined with a 1-2-4 finish on 3-meter led by sophomore Zein Mahana (289.35), the teams were separated by just nine points heading into the break.

In a scene reminiscent of the first relay, Aaron Martin (45.83) out-split Charlie Nenchev (45.92) to win the 100 free. Martin was the only swimmer to win two events in the men’s meet.

Tony Ponomarev led a 1-2 finish in the 200 back (1:47.31) with teammate Jonny Farber (1:49.89), putting the Terriers in the lead for the first time in the meet by just one point. Roderick Huang won the 200 breast immediately after (2:02.98), bringing the meet dead even at 93.5 to 93.5 points.

BU wrestled back control with back-to-back wins in the 500 free (Charles Schreiner, 4:34.18) and 50 fly (Jed Tan, 22.18). Mahana then completed a sweep of the boards, amassing 326.25 points on 1-meter.

Things needed to break near perfectly for MIT as the Engineers rallied a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 IM led by Jason Wang (1:49.65). That put them just seven points behind the Terriers with only the relay left to swim.

MIT’s squad of Martin (45.24), Jiang (45.96), Thomas Wu (45.68), and Kim (44.24) led from start to finish to win the 400 free relay by nearly two seconds ahead of BU’s A (3:01.12), putting the race for the meet win between the B relays. BU emerged victorious, as Arrese-Igor couldn’t overcome a 1.62-second lead to pass Andrew Ignatescu down the stretch.

Up Next

MIT easily defeated NEWMAC rival Coast Guard Academy the next day. On January 17, the Engineers will face Division 3 powerhouses Williams and NYU in a tri-meet. At 2024 NCAAs, the women’s teams finished 3rd (NYU), 4th (Williams), and 5th (MIT).

Boston University hosted Colgate and Fairfield in a tri-meet the following day, picking up dual wins. Next, they face Boston College on January 18th.