BOYDS, Md.—The UMBC men's and women's
swimming and diving teams both sit in second place after winning
five golds on Day Two of the 2011 America East Championships Friday
evening. The men, who have 288 points, trail Boston University
(304) by 16 points, while Binghamton (258), Maine (118) and Stony
Brook (116) follow the Retrievers. The women have tallied 251
points, just 11 behind Boston U. (262), while New Hampshire (229),
Binghamton (156), Vermont (141), Stony Brook (114) and Maine (109)
round out the field.
The women's 200-yard freestyle relay of senior Danielle
Cruz (Catonsville, Md./Western Tech), freshman Erika
Ronning (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) and
juniors Ashley Miller (New Smyrna Beach, Fla./New Smyrna
Beach) and Abbey McKenney (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine)
won gold in a school and pool record time of 1:34.40.
McKenney also broke the school record and won gold in the
women's 50-yard freestyle in a time of 23.25, while Ronning
finished fourth in 23.67 and Miller placed seventh in 23.98.
Senior Brad
Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) won gold in the men's
200-yard individual medley for the second time in his career, in a
time of 1:48.54. Junior John
Mendenhall(Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) finished sixth
in 1:53.30, while senior Dan
Weston-Dawkes(Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake) placed seventh in
1:53.58.
Sophomore transfer Pierre De
Waal (Pretoria, South Africa/Tuks Sport/Cleveland State)
earned gold in the men's 500-yard freestyle in an NCAA
consideration time of 4:27.08, the third-fastest time in school
history. Freshman Johan
Rohtla (Tallinn, Estonia/Tallinn Secondary Science) took
home bronze in a time of 4:34.48, while junior Mark
Garbowski(Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) finished fourth
in 4:35.42.
In the first event of the session, sophomore Amy
Fay (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) won the women's 500 free in
4:51.62, while senior Rebecca Godwin (Catonsville,
Md./Notre Dame Prep) took fifth in 4:56.29. Fay's time was the
third-fastest in school history and an NCAA consideration time.
Godwin's was the seventh-fastest time in UMBC history.
In the women's 200-yard individual medley,
sophomores Jennifer Kotonias (Burtonsville, Md./Academy
of Holy Cross) and Tara Morrissette (Somersworth,
N.H./Saint Thomas Aquinas) finished second and third, respectively.
Kotonias' time of 2:02.87 broke the UMBC record she set earlier in
the day, while Morrissette finished in 2:04.30, the third-fastest
time in school history.
The men's 200 free relay of sophomore Sandy
Haibel (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery),
seniors Keilan
Freeman (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Argyll Centre)
and Eric
Jones (Gambrills, Md./Arundel) and sophomore Steve
Gallagher (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) finished third
in a time 1:21.79.
In the men's 50 free, Jones earned bronze in 20.54, while
Gallagher finished fifth in 20.72.
In the women's 3-meter diving, senior Amanda
Shinholser (Burtonsville, Md./Springbrook) placed 10th with
scores of 206.45, while sophomore Victoria
Monetta (Lawrenceville, Ga./Central Gwinnett) placed 14th with
187.35 points.
The action continues Saturday at 10 a.m. for the prelims of the
400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back.
