ORONO, Maine – The UMBC men's 800
free relay and women's 200 medley relay teams each set pool records
as the UMBC men's and women's swimming and diving teams each took
leads on the first day of the America East Championships at the
Stanley M. Wallace Pool. On the diving boards,
senior Andrew
Eckhoff (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) won the 1-meter
event and sophomore Katie
Bean (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) took silver in the
3-meter event.
Leading off the meet, Bean, as well as freshman Corinna Darelius (Rye, N.Y./Rye), both reached the
finals of the high dive event to put the Retrievers out in
front. After qualifying third and fourth, respectively,
in the prelims of the event, both divers boosted their scores in
the finals with Bean scoring 267.00 to finish second and Darelius
earning 246.65 points to take fourth.
After the pool was turned, the swimmers entered the competition,
beginning with the 800 free relay. For the women, the
team of seniors Jennifer Kotonias (Burtonsville, Md./Academy of
Holy Cross), Claire Barron (Lowestoft, England/Benjamin
Britten/New Orleans), Elise Blaschke (Washington Township, N.J./Bishop
Eustace), and Amy
Fay (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) took second place behind
New Hampshire with a season-best time of 7:25.42.
The men hit the pool next and got the record-setting evening
started for the Black and Gold. Senior Mohamed
Hussein (Cairo, Egypt/Victory College) started the
Retrievers off in style by recording a UMBC and pool record 200
free split of 1:36.83. The previous record of 1:37.23
was set by Justin Bronson back in 2009. Junior Johan
Rohtla (Tallin, Estonia/Tallinn Secondary Science) and
sophomore Rob
Breen (Danvers, Mass./St. John's Prep) followed with
strong legs before senior Pierre De
Waal (Pretoria, South Africa/Tuks Sport/Cleveland State)
brought it home with a pool record time of 6:38.08 for the
gold.
The pool then switched again and Eckhoff made it two straight
conference wins in the 1-meter event by scoring 310.10 in the
finals after posting a score of 319.65 in the
prelims. Sophomores Carson
Wong (Hong Kong/Kowloon Technical School) and Ryan
Green (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) along with
senior Enrique
Labourdeth (Rochester, Mich./Stoney Creek) and
junior Tim
Perkins (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) also scored for UMBC
taking fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh.
The women's 200 medley team then avenged the Retrievers'
previous defeat by taking top honors and breaking school and pool
records. The quartet of junior Klara Pavelkova (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnasium
Pripotocni), Barron, and juniors Talor
Tadena (Orangevale, Calif./Bella Vista) and Erika
Ronning (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) steadily
pulled away from the Wildcats and the school record, breaking the
previous mark by one second with a time of 1:42.70.
While the men could not match the women's feat, the squad of
sophomore Lauri
Kaei (Harjumma, Estonia/Tallinn Secondary Science),
seniors Steve
Gallagher (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) and Sandy
Haibel (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery), and
junior Evan
Carey (Grand Island, N.Y./Grand Island) garnered a
second-place finish behind Binghamton.
Day Two of the four-day championship meet will begin at 10:00
a.m. on Friday morning with the prelims of the 500 free, 200 IM, 50
free, and women's 1-meter diving. The finals in each of
the events will then take place starting at 6:00 p.m.
