UMBC Men Earn Sixth Straight And Boston Women Dethrone The Retrievers

The UMBC men won their sixth title while Boston University’s women earned their first since 1994 at the 19th annual America East Swimming & Diving Championship at Boston University’s Fitness and Recreation Center.

UMBC trailed host Boston University with two events remaining in the four-day competition, but rallied in the 200-yard butterfly, earning four of the top five spots, to edge out the Terriers (873) by 27 points.  Binghamton University earned third with 700 points, followed by Stony Brook University (366) and the University at Maine (219).

The Terrier women gained the lead during day two of the Championship and never faltered, defeating last year’s champions the UMBC Retrievers (687), University of Vermont (587), University of New Hampshire (537), Stony Brook University (330), Binghamton University (278) and the University of Maine (159).

New Hampshire’s Jessica Little earned the Most Outstanding Rookie award, while Vermont’s Colleen Clark and Boston’s Tess Waresmith earned most outstanding female swimmer and diver, respectively.  Boston’s Eve Kinsella earned this year’s Coaches’ Award for the women for accumulating the most points over four years at the conference championship and Jerry Cunnoyer’s staff from Vermont won women’s Coaching Staff of the Year.

For the men’s end of the year awards, Binghamton’s Nolan Slesnick earned Most Outstanding rookie and Boston University’s Matthew Rickett and Andre Watson respectively won Most Outstanding Swimmer and Diver.  Bearcat standout Brenna Varanda earned the Coaches’ award for the men and Bill Smyth and the Terrier staff earned the male Coaching Staff of the Year award.

Vermont’s Molly MacMillan defended her title in the 1650 freestyle, earning first with a time of 16:54.93 while Binghamton’s Most Outstanding Rookie Nolan Slesnick won the event for the men (15:41.03).

New Hampshire’s Amy Perrault won the 200-yard backstroke in 2:00.08 and Bryon Kallert, from Boston, paced the men in the event, touching in a conference record 1:48.75.

Jessica Ellisalcaide from New Hampshire won the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 50.17.  Touching first for the men was Jackson Hill from Boston with a time of 44.18.

The women’s most Outstanding Rookie, Jessica Little, won the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:16. 59, touching over two and a half seconds ahead of her competition.   Brenno Varanda, the 2009 recipient of the coaches’ award, won the even for the men in a conference recording-setting time of 2:00.63.

Jennifer Espositio from UMBC was the only female to break the 2-minute mark in the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.98), earning first place alongside fellow Retriever Brad Reitz who touched in 1:47.69.

Tess Waresmith completed her sweep of the one- and three-meter diving events by scoring a 539.90 on the one-meter during the fourth day of competition.

To end the day’s competition, Boston University swept the 400-yard freestyle relay with the men’s team of Daniel Kempf, Matthew Rickett, Arik Seiler and Jackson Hill touching in 2:57.72, provisionally-qualifying for the NCAA Championship, snapping the conference record and outpacing the field by almost four seconds.  The women’s squad of Kirsten Tullis, Emily Munday Maria McIntyre and Eve Kinsella lowered the conference record by three and a half seconds by touching in 3:24.30.

Make It a Dozen! UMBC Men's Swimming and Diving Wins Sixth Consecutive America East Championship, 12th Overall, Women Take Second
The UMBC men's swimming and diving team has won the America East Championship for the sixth consecutive season and 12th overall conference title. The Retrievers finished with 900 points, beating Boston University by 27 points (873). The women finished in second with 687 points. The Boston University women won the title for the first time in 14 years.

Sophomore Brad Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) broke the school record in the 200 fly on his way to winning the gold medal in a time of 1:47.69. Senior P.J. Sterba (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) earned silver in a time of 1:50.68, while freshman Ben Wolbert (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) and senior Evan Roseberry (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) touched fourth and fifth.

Senior Justin Bronson (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/Msgr. Paul Dwyer) and freshman Nour Saad (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) and John Mendenhall (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) all earned silver medals on the final day. Bronson swam a 45.07 in the 200 free, Saad touched in 1:49.61 and Mendenhall in 2:03.49.

In the 1,650 free, sophomore Mat Carson (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Silverthorn Collegiate Institute) earned bronze with a time of 15:55.89, while Roseberry finished fourth in 15:59.54.

In the final event of the evening, the 400 free relay team of junior Zach Vonder Haar (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus Academy), sophomore Eric Jones (Gambrills, Md./Arundel), freshman Jason Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) and Bronson placed second in 3:01.57.

In addition to the swimming portion, junior Matt Hamel (Jessup, Md./Glenelg Country School) and sophomore Daniel Grippi (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern) made the finals of the 1-meter diving, finishing seventh and eighth with 421.95 and 416.70 points, respectively.

On the women's side, junior Jennifer Esposito (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst/C.W. Post) broke the school record she set in the prelim session, finishing first in a time of 1:59.98. Fellow junior Lindsay Sherman (Bethany, Conn./Amity) earned silver in 2:01.35.

The women's 400 free relay team of junior Sam Maccherola (Woolford, Md./South Carroll/Tennessee), freshman Ashley Miller (New Smyrna Beach, Fla./New Smyrna Beach), sophomore Danielle Cruz (Catonsville, Md./Western Tech) and freshman Abbey McKenney (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) broke the school record in a time of 3:26.67 to finish second.

Maccherola also broke the school record in the 100 free, finishing fourth in 50.88, while McKenney placed fifth in 51.10.

Junior Tereza Kaplanova (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnazium J.G. Jankovskeho) earned bronze in the 200 breast, touching in a time of 2:19.44. Freshman Laura Tilman (Miami Springs, Fla./Ransom Everglades) finishing in 2:04.84.

In the mile free, sophomore Rebecca Godwin (Catonsville, Md./Notre Dame Prep) placed fourth 17:07.45, while freshman Pink Kinanti (Jakarta, Indonesia/The Bolles School) finished sixth in 17:12.68

Vermont Finishes Third at America East Championship, Clark Named Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet
The University of Vermont swimming and diving team earned its most successful finish in school history at the America East Championship, placing third overall with a school-record 587 points. Junior Colleen Clark (Unionville, Conn.) was named the America East Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet and Vermont took home America East Coaching Staff of the Year honors.

"I am very impressed with the maturity our team showed throughout the weekend. The fact that we were able to close the gap and compete with the top teams in the conference makes a statement of just how far this program has come," said Vermont head coach Gerry Cournoyer.

Boston University won the meet with a score of 769, followed in second by UMBC with 687 points. The Cats earned third place, as they scored 50 more than fourth-place finisher New Hampshire.

Vermont broke all but one swimming varsity school record during the four-day meet, as well as seven school freshmen marks and established three new conference record times.

Junior Molly MacMillan (Doylestown, Pa.) won the 1,650 freestyle for a second consecutive season with a new UVM record time of 16:54.93. MacMillan also set a new school record during the event in the 1,000 (10:13.97). Freshman Katie Heenan (Clarendon Hills, Ill.) was fifth with a new Vermont freshmen record time of 17:10.45 and a new freshman mark in the 1,000 (10:18.36), while senior Lauren Honrath (Monroe, Conn.) came in sixth and freshman Sara Fogle (North Barrington, Ill.) placed ninth.

Sophomore Kate Weaver (South Burlington, Vt.) led three Catamounts in the top eight with a second place finish in the 200 backstroke in a UVM record time of 2:01.47. Freshman Kaitlyn Evarts (Vergennes, Vt.) finished sixth and classmate Hannah Center (Chevy Chase, Md.) placed eighth.

Clark came in third in the 100 freestyle with a time of 50.78 to set a new school record, while senior Rachel Kent (Mystic, Conn.) was eighth.

Freshman Caitlin Dowd (Setauket, N.Y.) finished ninth in the 200 breaststroke but set a new Vermont varsity and freshmen record with a time of 2:24.82. Classmate Avery Pittman (Raleigh, N.C.) also earned new varsity and freshmen records with a ninth place finish in the 200 butterfly in 2:04.16.

The meet wraps up the season for the Catamounts who finished 9-4-1 overall and went 4-1 against America East opponents.

NOTES: Vermont's previous high point total at the conference meet came last season when the Cats scored 462.5 points and finished fourth ... UVM has now improved its finish at the league championship in each of the last four seasons ... Clark broke four UVM individual varsity records and two conference records on the weekend ... She becomes the first Catamount to take home Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet honors ... Vermont has now earned top coaching honors twice in the last three seasons ... Vermont earned a school record four championships (three individual and one relay).

Stony Brook Men Finish Fourth, Women Fifth at America East Swimming & Diving Championships
Stony Brook University’s men’s swimming & diving team finished in fourth place with 366 points and the women’s team finished in fifth with 330 at the America East Swimming & Diving Championships. Records continued to fall on the final day of the championships with the Seawolves setting new records in the men’s and women’s 1,650-yard freestyle, women’s 200-yard backstroke, men’s and women’s 200-yard breaststroke and women’s 400-yard freestyle relay.

Freshman Darcy Heuser (Centerville, Ohio) capped her phenomenal first-year by setting yet another record, this time in the women’s 1,650-meter. She completed the race in 16:57.51, smashing the previous mark by 22 seconds. Heuser touched second, less than three seconds behind the first-place finisher. In the men’s heat, sophomore Lukasz Ochmanski (Lodz, Poland) broke the previous school record by 17 seconds with a time of 15:52.95, placing second overall. Freshman Zackery Good (Columbus, Ind.) and sophomore Nathan Fleshman (Monroe, Mich.) also competed in the men’s heat placing sixth and ninth, respectively.

In the women’s 200-yard backstroke, senior Lucy Liu (Bronx, N.Y.) broke the school record by two seconds with a time of 2:05.44, fast enough for fifth. Sophomore Adrienne Policht (Mississauga, Canada) touched seventh in 2:07.05.

The Seawolves also had two top-ten finishes in the women’s 200-yard breaststroke, with sophomore Anastasia Kiryushkina (Moscow, Russia) taking sixth in a school-record time of 2:23.53 and junior Jessica Peters (Holyoke, Mass.) touching eighth in 2:25.12.

Freshman Ian Francis (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) set the final school-record for the men’s team, posting a time of 2:05.41 in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke, while the women rounded out their record-breaking performances in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Heuser, freshman Kelsey Stranc (Chicago, Ill.), sophomore Maja Gudelj (Split, Croatia) and junior Rebecca Sayles (Calgary, Alberta) finished in fourth-place with a time of 3:30.46. The women’s team broke a record in every relay they competed in over the four-day meet.