BALTIMORE - The UMBC men's and women's swimming and diving teams finished the dual meet season on a high note Saturday, as the Retrievers swept Delaware and William and Mary at the UMBC Natatorium on Senior Day. The men (8-1) defeated the Blue Hens 181.5-118.5 and the Tribe 183-114, while the women (6-3) beat Delaware 177-123 and William and Mary 164-130.
"I'm really proud of our men and women today," head coach Chad Cradock said. "We were privileged to have Delaware and William and Mary, two very good programs, come to our pool today and I thought we took the challenge and passed with flying colors.
It was the final home meet for UMBC's 10 seniors, including Sam Maccherola (Woolford, Md./South Carroll/Tennessee) and Lindsay Sherman (Bethany, Conn./Amity), who won the 500 free (5:01.95) and the 100 fly (58.28), respectively. Senior Tina Cantwell (Sinking Spring, Pa./The Hill School) placed first in the 100 breast in 1:06.59. On the men's side, Matt Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) won the 200 IM in 1:54.52 and Zach Vonder Haar (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus Academy) won his first dual meet event of his career with the 100 back in 52.71.
It was also the final home meet for Fred Deal (Richboro, Pa./Father Judge/Council Rock South), Kate Chialastri (Flourtown, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh), Jennifer Esposito (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst/C.W. Post), Brittany Johnson (Ponte Vedra, Fla./The Bolles School) and Tereza Kaplanova (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnazium J.G. Jankovskeho).
The Retrievers had two multiple event winners with juniors Eric Jones (Gambrills, Md./Arundel) and Brad Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard). Jones won the 100 free (47.02) and 200 free (1:41.63), while Reitz touched first in the 200 fly (1:53.13) and the 200 IM (51.38).
Freshman Andrew Eckhoff (Chelmsford, Mass/Chelmsford) placed second in the men's 1-meter diving with a score of 244.45, while junior Amanda Shinholser (Burtonsville, Md./Springbrook) earned a career best 209.10 in the women's 1-meter.
The Retrievers return to action Feb. 25 when they travel to Boston to compete in the 2010 America East Championships.
