Women's Swimming and Diving 2/28/2010 12:00:00 AM

Women's Swimming and Diving Finishes Second at America East Championships for Second Consecutive Year

BOSTON - The UMBC men's swimming and diving team has won its seventh consecutive America East Championship and 13th straight conference title overall after finishing with 926.5 points Sunday in Boston. The women finished second for the second year in a row, scoring 681 points.

The 926.5 points are just 1.5 less than the record, set by UMBC in 2008. Boston University was second with 848.5 points, followed by Binghamton (586), Stony Brook (416) and Maine (258).

The Boston University women won with 765 points, followed by UMBC (681), New Hampshire (601), Vermont (459), SBU (331.5), Binghamton (324.5) and Maine (209).

Senior Matt Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) broke the school record in the men's 200 breast and earned silver in a time of 2:00.90, over four and a half seconds faster than his prelim time. The Retrievers also went 3-4-5 with sophomore John Mendenhall (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) and juniors Dan-Weston- Dawkes (Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake) and Phillip Novotny (Fairfield, Conn./Fairf ield Warde).

Junior Brad Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) won the gold in the men's 200 fly in an NCAA- provisional qualifying time of 1:47.81. Freshman Sandy Haibel (Rockville, Md/Richard Montgomery) earned the silver in a time of 1:51.94, while sophomore Ben Wolbert (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) finished fifth in 1:53.53.

Sophomore Abbey McKenney (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) broke the school record and earned gold in the women's 100 free in an NCAA-provisional qualifying time of 50.17. Senior Sam Maccherola (Woolford, Md./South Carroll/Tennessee) finished fourth in 51.32.

In their final events for UMBC, senior Tina Cantwell (Sinking Spring, Pa./The Hill School) earned silver in the women's 200 breast in 2:17.09, while fellow senior Tereza Kaplanova (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnazium J.G. Jankovskeho) touched third in 2:18.74.

Seniors Jennifer Esposito (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst/C.W. Post) and Lindsay Sherman (Bethany, Conn./Amity), freshman Tara Morrissette (Somersworth, N.H./Saint Thomas Aquinas), junior Sarah Ryan (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Oceanside) and freshman Jennifer Kotonias (Burtonsville, Md./Academy of Holy Cross) went 2-3-4-6-8 in the women's 200 fly, with Esposito leading the way in 2:02.32.

Junior Rebecca Godwin (Catonsville, Md./Notre Dame Prep) earned bronze in the women's 1,650 free in a career-best time of 16:58.03, the second fastest time in school history. Freshman Amy Fay (Haverhill, Mass/Haverhill) finished sixth in a time of 17:14.34.

In the men's 1,650 free, freshman Alex Moothart (Hopkinton, Mass/Hopkinton) finished fourth in a season-best time of 16:10.23. Junior Mark Garbowski (Cherry Hill, NJ./Cherry Hill West), who swam earlier in the day, finished seventh in 16:15.28.

In the women's 200 back, sophomore Laura Tilman (Miami Springs, Fla./Ransom Everglades) earned bronze in a time of 2:04.37, while sophomore Kathryn Moorby (Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May Regional) placed fifth in 2:06.25.

Sophomore Jason Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) finished fourth in the men's 100 free, while junior Eric Jones (Gambrills, Md./Arundel), senior Zach Vonder Haar (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus Academy) and freshman Steve Gallagher (Sinking Spring, Pa/Wilson) placed fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

In the men's 200 back, junior Mat Carson (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Silverthorn Collegiate Institute) set a season-best time of 1:51.12, finishing fifth. Sophomore Nour Saad (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) placed eighth in 1:54.05.

In the women's 1-meter diving, junior Amanda Shinholser (Burtonsville, Md./Springbrook) scored 197.40 points, while freshman Victoria Monetta (Lawrenceville, Ga/Central Gwinnett) earned 180.60.

In the final event of the evening, the 400 free relay of Gallagher, Vonder Haar, Jones and Jason Mattingly earned silver in 3:01.38.

The Women's Most Outstanding Rookie of the meet was awarded to Morrissette, who earned bronze in both the 200 and 400 IM and fourth in the 200 fly. UMBC's coaching staff was named Co-Men's Coaching Staff of the Year.