BOSTON-- 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, 29 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. UMBCRetrievers.com will have live updates from the pool deck with the UMBC Dawg Blog.
