Women's Swimming and Diving 2/22/2009 12:00:00 AM

Make It a Dozen! UMBC Men's Swimming and Diving Wins Sixth Consecutive America East Championship, 12th Overall, Women Take Second

BOSTON-- 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 27 points, who finished 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 in the 200 fly 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) finished fourth in the 200 back 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.