Women's Swimming and Diving 2/27/2010 12:00:00 AM

28 Retrievers Qualify for Finals on Day 3 of 2010 America East Swimming and Diving Championships

BOSTON - The UMBC men's and women's swimming and diving teams have three top seeds, 28 student-athletes competing and a new school record holder in the 100-yard breaststroke in the finals Saturday after preliminary action on Day 3 of the 2010 America East Championships in Boston. In addition, the Retrievers have 10 members swimming in the consolation finals. The finals start tonight at 6 p.m.

Senior Matt Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) will be seeded first in the men's 100 breast after breaking an America East Championship, Boston University Fitness and Recreation Center Pool and UMBC record time of 55.21. It is also an NCAA-provisional qualifying time. He will be joined in the final by sophomore John Mendenhall (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East), freshman Steve Gallagher (Sinking Spring, Pa/Wilson) and junior Phillip Novotny (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde).

In the women's 400 IM, freshman Jennifer Kotonias (Burtonsville, Md/Academy of Holy Cross) set the second-fastest time in UMBC history with a time of 4:27.43, while fellow freshman Tara Morrissette (Somersworth, N.H./Saint Thomas Aquinas) set the fourth-fastest time in 4:28.87. Junior Rebecca Godwin (Catonsville, Md./Notre Dame Prep) will compete in the final, while fellow junior Julie Cantwell (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) will race in the consolation final.

The men's 400 IM has a similar situation, with junior Mat Carson (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Silverthorn Collegiate Institute) recording the second-fastest time in school history in 3:57.88. He will be joined in the final by juniorDan Weston-Dawkes (Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake) and Mendenhall. Juniors Keilan Freeman (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Argyll Centre) and Novotny will compete in the consolation final.

In the women's 100 fly, junior Sarah Ryan (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Oceanside) produced a UMBC season-best time of 55.99 and will be joined in the final by seniors Jennifer Esposito (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst/C.W. Post) and Lindsay Sherman (Bethany, Conn./Amity). Sophomore Kathryn Moorby (Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May Regional) will race in the consolation final.

The Retrievers will have four members in the men's 100 fly with junior Brad Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) leading the four with a time of 49.83. Senior Zach Vonder Haar (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus Academy) was right behind in 49.87, while sophomore Ben Wolbert (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) and freshman Sandy Haibel (Rockville, Md/Richard Montgomery) will also compete in the final.

The Retrievers have the top qualifiers in both 200 free finals tonight with senior Sam Maccherola (Woolford, Md./South Carroll/Tennessee) and junior Eric Jones (Gambrills, Md./Arundel). Maccherola, who turned in a time of 1:50.27, will be joined in the women's final by sophomore Abbey McKenney (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) and freshman Amy Fay (Haverhill, Mass/Haverhill). Ryan and Sherman will compete in the consolation final.

Jones, who was first in 1:39.07, will be joined in the men's final by sophomore Mark Garbowski (Cherry Hill, NJ./Cherry Hill West), while Freeman, Wolbert and freshman Herol Marjak (Harjumaa, Estonia/Tallinn Sec Science School) will compete in the consolation final.

Senior Tina Cantwell (Sinking Spring, Pa./The Hill School) qualified for the finals of the women's 100 breast with a time of 1:04.88. She will be joined in the final by senior Tereza Kaplanova (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnazium J.G. Jankovskeho). Junior Gaby Johnston (Windsor, Conn./Loomis Chaffee School) will compete in the consolation final.

In the women's 100 back, Moorby won her heat in a time of 57.77 and will compete in the final. Fellow sophomores Laura Tilman (Miami Springs, Fla./Ransom Everglades) and Kelsey Fitzpatrick (Delran, N.J./Delran) will compete in the consolation final.

In the final event of the session, the men's 100 back, Vonder Haar won his heat in 50.33 and will be seeded second in the finals tonight. He will be joined by sophomores Jason Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) and Nour Saad (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) and freshman Haibel in the final.

You can check out live updates from the pool deck at the UMBC Dawg Blog at http://umbcdawgblog.wordpress.com