COLLEGE PARK, Md.—The UMBC men's swimming
and diving team swept local rivals Maryland and Towson, Saturday
afternoon, while the women's side was downed by both the Terps and
the Tigers. The men's team (4-1) defeated Maryland, 172-114, and
Towson, 201-61, but the women (2-3) fell to the Terps, 240-60, and
the Tigers, 214.50-85.50.
Senior Brad
Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) earned four
golds, including all three of his individual events, taking the
100-yard butterfly (50.26), 200 fly (1:50.94) and 200 IM (1:54.58),
all of which were UMBC season-best times.
Freshman Johan
Rohtla (Tallinn, Estonia/Tallinn Secondary
Science) continued his impressive first year, winning the 200
backstroke in 1:49.62, the fourth-fastest time in school history,
while placing first in the 100 back in 50.89, the ninth-fastest
all-time mark at UMBC.
Other multiple winners included senior Eric
Jones (Gambrills, Md./Arundel), who touched first
in the 50 free (21.39) and the 200 free (1:43.79), and sophomore
transfer Pierre De
Waal(Pretoria, South Africa/Tuks Sport/Cleveland
State), who won the 500 free and 1,000 free in 4:41.74 and 9:46.28,
respectively.
Junior John
Mendenhall (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East)
won the 200 breaststroke in 2:07.25 and sophomore Steve
Gallagher (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) took the
100 breast (58.49), while sophomore Andrew
Eckhoff (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) won the
1-meter dive with a score of 252.10.
On the women's side, the Retrievers set 10 season-best times,
including sophomoreJennifer
Kotonias (Burtonsville, Md./Academy of Holy Cross) in
the 200 fly (2:04.80) and sophomore transfer Claire
Barron (Lowestoft, England/Benjamin Britten/New
Orleans) in the 100 breast (1:07.18), who both achieved the
10th-fastest times in school history.
In addition, the 400 free relay of freshman Erika
Ronning (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township),
junior Ashley Sippel (Rockville,
Md./Thomas Wootton), senior Danielle
Cruz(Catonsville, Md./Western Tech) and
junior Ashley Miller (New Smyrna Beach,
Fla./New Smyrna Beach) set a UMBC season-best time of
3:34.37.
The Retrievers return to action next weekend when they look to
defend their Patriot Invitational titles in Fairfax, Va., Friday to
Sunday.
