BOSTON, MASS. – Both the UMBC men's
and women's swimming and diving teams sit in second place heading
into the final day at the America East Championships following
multiple wins on Saturday evening.
Boston U. leads the men's standings with 628 points, followed
closely by the Retrievers with 612 points. Binghamton
(411), Stony Brook (264) and Maine (199) round out the
rankings.
The Terrier women are also in the lead after three days of
competition with 476 points, with the UMBC women just behind with
472 points. New Hampshire (425.5), Vermont (264) and
Stony Brook (215) sit third through fifth, while Maine (207.5) and
Binghamton (191) place sixth and seventh.
Junior Andrew Eckhoff (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) took
top honors in the 3-meter competition with 323.75
points. With the win, Eckhoff swept the two diving
events at the conference meet after winning the 1-meter event back
on Thursday.
Pak Lam Wong (Hong Kong/Kowloon Technical School), Ryan Green (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial)
and Enrique Labourdeth (Rochester, Mich./Stoney Creek)
also claimed points in the finals by placing fifth, seventh and
eighth, respectively.
Senior Abbey
McKenney (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) successfully
defended her title in the 200 free to go with yesterday's win in
the 50 free.
Sophomore Klara
Pavelkova (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnasium Pripotocni)
also impressed for UMBC, claiming the 100 back title in a school
record time of 56.00. Junior Elise
Blaschke (Washington Township, N.J./Bishop Eustace Prep)
and Kathryn
Moorby (Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May Regional) placed
fifth and eighth in the event.
Mid-year transfer Mohamed Hussein (Cairo, Egypt/Victory College)
claimed yet another gold medal at his first championships, winning
the 100 back in a conference and pool record time of
48.92. Freshman Lauri Kaei (Harjumaa, Estonia/Tallinn Secondary
Science) claimed a bronze for the Retrievers, touching in a time of
49.90.
Sophomore Johan Rohtla (Tallinn, Estonia/Tallinn Secondary
Science) and senior Ben Wolbert (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) finished
fourth and seventh in 50.39 and 52.41, respectively.
After winning a gold in the 500 free yesterday, junior Pierre De Waal (Pretoria, South Africa/Tuks
Sport/Cleveland State) won the 200 free on Saturday with a time of
1:38.54. Kaei and Evan Carey (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island)
placed sixth and eighth for UMBC in the event final.
In the 100 fly, junior Sandy Haibel (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery)
picked up a silver for the Retrievers finishing in
49.23. His prelims' time (49.23) set a new personal-best
and places him fourth on UMBC's all-time list.
In the night's relay, the 400 medley, UMBC's Pavelkova, Claire
Barron (Lowestoft, England/Benjamin Britten/New
Orleans), Laura
Tilman (Miami, Fla./Ransom Everglades) and McKenney
brought home gold for the Retrievers.
The UMBC combination of Hussein, Reijo Hyvenen (), Haibel and Steve Gallager (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) also
claimed a silver in the last event of the night.
The final day of the 2012 America East Championships begins
tomorrow at 10 a.m. with event prelims.
