FAIRFAX, VA. – The UMBC men's and
women's swimming and diving teams completed day one of the Patriot
Invitational at George Mason with the lead. The
Retrievers won four events while claiming second in four events as
well.
Despite settling for second, the women started off the meet with
a bang recording a school-best time (1:33.50), just a hair behind
UNC-Wilmington.
After both the men's and women's 200 free relays finished
second in their respective races, junior Jennifer
Kotonias (Burtonsville, Md./Academy of Holy Cross) picked
up UMBC's first win of the day, claiming gold in the 500-yard
freestyle (4:54.76). Amy
Fay (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill), Ashley
Sippel (Rockville, Md./Thomas Wootton), and Pink
Kinanti (Jakarta, Indonesia/The Bolles School (Fla.)) also
gained valuable points for the Retrievers in the event.
In the very next race, junior Pierre De Waal (Pretoria, South Africa/Tuks
Sport/Cleveland State) and sophomore Charlie Melesh (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis/Pfeiffer)
finished one-two in the men's 500 free, to give the Retrievers a
good start.
Senior Laura
Tilman (Miami, Fla./Ransom Everglades) continued the
Retrievers fast start, winning the 200 IM (2:05.71) with
junior Tara
Morrissette (Somersworth, N.H./Saint Thomas Aquinas)
finishing in third. Juniors Elise
Blaschke (Sewell, N.J./Bishop Eustace Prep) and Claire
Barron (Loewstoft, England/Benjamin Britten/New Orleans)
finished ninth and 12th, respectively to earn points for UMBC.
Junior Mike McGee (Chalfont, Pa./La Salle College HS)
picked up the Retrievers' final win of the day beating out
teammate Johan Rohtla (Tallinn, Estonia/Tallinn Secondary
Science) for the victory in the 200 IM. Herol Marjak (Harjumaa, Estonia/Tallinn Secondary
Science), Ben Wolbert (Finksburg, Md./Westminster),
and Evan Carey (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand
Island) finished 5th, 6th, and 7th in the event as the Retrievers
took five of the eight top point slots.
UMBC gets back in the pool tomorrow for Day Two of the Patriot
Invitational, with competition starting at 10 a.m.
