Central Connecticut’s swimming and diving team took to the pool for the first time this season when they took on Sacred Heart and LIU Post in a dual meet, falling to Sacred Heart but having a score to just edge out LIU Post. A Blue Devil placed first in five of the 16 events of the meet.

The star of the day was junior Valentina Gomez, who won three events, including the 1,000-yard freestyle, where she was the only Blue Devil competing.

Gomez also won the 200-meter butterfly, beating the second place finisher by over 12 seconds. She finished off the trifecta of victories by taking 100-yard butterfly, this time barely defeating the runner-up.

Gomez also took part in the 400-yard freestyle rally, teamed with senior Kaitlyn Troy, sophomore Katelyn Mann and freshman Jeannette King. The team finished second, trailing the Pioneers.

Freshman Alex Lindgren also had a strong showing in her first meet as a Blue Devil, winning the 200-yard breaststroke by seven seconds and finishing as the runner-up to her teammate, fellow freshman Mariana Espino, in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Espino added a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle.

Another newcomer who made an impact on the meet was King, who acted as the bridesmaid in three individual events, the 200-yard freestyle, 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke.

The emergence of these freshmen will help a Blue Devil squad that graduated four swimmers last season. Maeve Awiszus, Lauren Czulewicz, Maddy Garber and Luna Milne were all key contributors over the last four years, meaning these freshmen, as well as returning swimmers such as Gomez, will need to pick up where these graduates left off.

Troy competed in two events as an individual, finishing second in the 100-yard backstroke as well as a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle, edging out teammate Hallie Perrin by a mere two-tenths of a second.

Mann contributed a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, an event her teammate, Lindgren, won.

The other major loss to graduation for the team was losing diver Annemarie Durham, who the lone diver on last year’s team even won Northeast Conference Diver of the week and competed at the NCCA Diving Zones.

Freshman Megan Romaniello is the only diver listed on the roster, though she did not compete in Saturday’s meet.

The Blue Devils will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 20 when they take on Connecticut and Southern Connecticut State University.