Records Fall, Vermont And Boston Lead After Day One Of America East Championship

After the first day of competition at the 2009 America East Swimming & Diving Championship, the University of Vermont leads the women and Boston University tops the men.  A conference record has been broken in each of the five events that have been completed at Boston University’s Fitness & Recreation Center.

The Catamount women’s 800-freestyle relay team of Kate Weaver South Burlington, VT/South Burlington, Molly MacMillan (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks West), Katie Heenan (Clarendon Hills, IL/Hinsdale Central) and Colleen Clark (Unionville, CT/Farmington) got the championship started by snapping the conference record by more than three seconds, clocking in at 7:22.94.  The UMBC men followed suit, with Eric Jones (Gambrills, Md./Arundel), Evan Roseberry (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson), Keilan Freeman (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Argyll Centre) and Justin Bronson (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/Msgr. Paul Dwyer) swimming the event in 6:39.18, outpacing the previous record by over three seconds.

In the day’s next event, the men’s 1-meter diving, Boston University’s Andre Watson (Hempstead, N.Y./Rutgers University) tallied 670.45 points to top the field and shatter the previous conference record of 540.80.

To end day one, the University of New Hampshire’s Amy Perrault Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada/Ecole Catholique Jean Vanier), Allison Nahin (Hartland, Wisc./Arrowhead High School), Sarah Kanellas (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) and Jessie Ellisalcaide (Harpswell, Maine/University of Maine) teamed up in the 200-yard medley relay to earn first place with a time of 1:42.24 and break the previous record of 1:44.68.  On the men’s side, host Boston University won the relay with Bryon Kallert (New Milford, N.J./New Milford), Kyle Ernst (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk), Matthew Rickett (Portland, Maine/Deering) and Jackson Hill (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) clocking in at 1:29.11, over two seconds faster than the previous record.

The Championship will resume tomorrow with preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m.  Finals will begin at 6 p.m. and winners will be crowned in the men and women’s 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle relay and the women’s 3-meter dive.  Diving preliminaries will begin at approximately 2 p.m.

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 5                   
1. University of Vermont            70                 
2. New Hampshire                    68
3. Boston University                 66
3. UMBC                                 66
5. Stony Brook University         56
6. Binghamton University          54
7. University of Maine               48                                            

Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 5                    
1. Boston University                130
2. Binghamton University            104
3. UMBC                             101
4. Stony Brook University           77
5. University of Maine             28                                            

Vermont Women In First After Day 1 of America East Championship
The University of Vermont swimming and diving team is in first place after the first day of the America East Championship held at Boston University. The Catamounts have 70 points and earned the first relay championship at conferences in school history by opening the meet with a first place showing in the 800 freestyle.

Vermont broke a total of four records in the opening event alone as the Cats won the 800 freestyle relay in a time of 7:22.94. UVM broke the conference record of 7:26.35, which was previously set by Boston University just last season. The time also smashed Vermont's school record of 7:36.60 that the Catamounts established last year and it was also a BU pool record.

Sophomore Kate Weaver (South Burlington, Vt.) led off the relay setting a new pool and UVM record with a 200 split time of 1:50.09. Weaver was joined on the record-setting relay team by junior Molly MacMillan (Doylestown, Pa.), freshman Katie Heenan (Clarendon Hills, Ill.) and junior Colleen Clark (Unionville, Conn.).

Vermont also earned a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay with the team made up of freshmen Kaitlyn Evarts (Vergennes, Vt.), Caitlin Dowd (Setauket, N.Y.), Avery Pittman (Raleigh, N.C.) and senior Rachel Kent (Mystic, Conn.). With a time of 1:46.11 the Catamounts set a new school record in the process.

"I am absolutely thrilled by the performances tonight," said Vermont head coach Gerry Cournoyer. "There is still a lot of the meet left to go, but tonight the team made a statement and we are really looking forward to try and carry this momentum over to tomorrow."

The Cats sit two points ahead of second-place New Hampshire (68 pts.) and are four up on both Boston University and UMBC, who are tied for third. Vermont will be back in action in the preliminary rounds tomorrow morning starting at 10 a.m.

Four School Records Fall as UMBC Swimming and Diving Opens America East Championships Thursday
The UMBC men's 800 freestyle relay team of sophomore Eric Jones (Gambrills, Md./Arundel), senior Evan Roseberry (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson), sophomore Keilan Freeman (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Argyll Centre) and senior Justin Bronson (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/Msgr. Paul Dwyer) earned gold while setting a UMBC, America East Championship and a Boston University Aquatic and Fitness Center pool record in a time of 6:39.18, as the Retrievers got off on the right foot to defending their America East Title Thursday night.

After the first night of competition, the men are in third place with 101 points, 30 behind host Boston University, while the women are tied in third with 66, just four behind leader Vermont.

The women's team of senior Daniele Surkovich (Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake), sophomore Sarah Ryan (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Oceanside), freshman Abbey McKenney (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) and junior Sam Maccherola (Woolford, Md./South Carroll/Tennessee) earned silver in the 800 free relay in a school record time of 7:25.27. Vermont won the event in an America East Championship record 7:22.94.

In the 200 medley relay, both teams earned bronze medals while breaking school records. The women's side of freshman Laura Tilman (Miami Springs, Fla./Ransom Everglades), juniors Tereza Kaplanova (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnazium J.G. Jankovskeho) and Lindsay Sherman (Bethany, Conn./Amity) and freshman Ashley Miller (New Smyrna Beach, Fla./New Smyrna Beach) finished 1:46.07 and the men's side of senior Sven Schneider (Tallinn, Estonia/Tallinn German Gymnasium), juniors Matt Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) and Zach Vonder Haar (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus Academy) and freshman Jason Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) touched in 1:31.31.

In the only other final of the night, junior Matt Hamel (Jessup, Md./Glenelg Country School) placed seventh in the men's 1-meter diving event, while sophomore Daniel Grippi (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern) placed eighth.

The action continues tomorrow with Friday's prelim session starting at 10 a.m.

Three School Records Fall During Day One of America East Swimming & Diving Championships
The Stony Brook’s men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams combined to break three school records during day one of the America East Swimming & Diving Championships at Boston University on Thursday. The men’s and women’s 800-freestyle relay records and the women’s 200-yard medley relay record were all broken by at least two seconds. Overall, the men’s team stands in fourth place with 77 points and the women are fifth with 56.  

The first record to fall was the women’s 800-yard freestyle relay. Freshman Darcy Heuser (Centerville, Ohio), sophomore Adrienne Policht (Mississauga, Canada), sophomore Maja Gudelj (Split, Croatia) and junior Rebecca Sayles (Calgary, Alberta) completed the race in 7:35.85, smashing the previous record by more than ten seconds.

The men’s 800-meter freestyle relay team was up next and nearly matched their teammates’ efforts. Sophomore Lukasz Ochmanski (Lodz, Poland), freshman Zackery Good (Columbus, Ind.), sophomore Christopher Olwell (Floral Park, N.Y.) and freshman Sean Conway (Oakdale, N.Y.) touched in 6:54.13, nearly nine seconds faster than the previous record. Both teams took a fourth-place finish in their races.

The final record to be broken was in the 200-yard medley relay. Senior Lucy Liu (Bronx, N.Y.), junior Jessica Peters (Holyoke, Mass.), freshman Stephanie Gross (Fairport, N.Y.) and freshman Kelsey Stranc (Chicago, Ill.) completed the race in 1:47.74, two seconds ahead of the previous mark. They took sixth-place overall, falling just .01 seconds short of a fifth. In the men’s heat, freshman Mark Anderson (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), freshman Ian Francis (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), freshman Ben Parker (Austin, Texas) and senior Omer Ozcan (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished fourth in a time of 1:35.92.

Senior Julian Acevedo (Long Island City, N.Y.) had the highest finish for the Seawolves, taking second in the men’s one-meter dive. Acevedo’s final score was 615.55, just 54.9 points behind Boston University’s Andre Watson who finished first. Acevedo and Watson were clearly the class of the event, outscoring their closest competitor by more than 100 points.

Day Two of the Championships begins Friday at 10 a.m.