BALTIMORE – The UMBC women's swimming and diving squads finished first in every event and recorded a 134-120 victory over visiting Howard at the UMBC Aquatic Center.
The Retrievers competed against the Bison 24 hours after returning from their winter training trip in Florida.
"We want to thank Howard University for the opportunity to swim different events," said head coach Chad Cradock. "Our team is quite tired, coming off the training trip, but they stepped up. We're excited for our last two dual meets heading into the championships."
Three Retrievers each posted a pair of wins. In the pool, freshman Makayla Ludwick (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) won the 100 (55.74) and 200 (1:58.10) yard freestyle events, and senior Emily Vance (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) captured the 50 (27.9) and 100 (1:00.08) backstroke events. In the diving well, senior Devin Gromen (Crofton, Md./Arundel) produced her best meet of the season, edging two Bison divers to win the 1-meter event (205.35), then easily besting the six-diver field to win the 3-meter (223.05) board.
Sophomore Tonia Papapertrou (Nicosia, Cyprus) captured the 50 freestyle (24.83) and swam the anchor leg of the concluding 800 yard freestyle relay. The Retrievers cruised in that event, posting a time of 7:54.91.
"The training trip and coming here afterward was so hard, but I felt we did so well" said Papapertrou. "Everyone's attitude was so positive and everyone was supporting their teammates, so that was great."
"Tonia was very strong (today), she had a tremendous training trip as well," said Cradock. "She's now being rewarded for her hard work."
Other winners for UMBC were:
Vanessa Esposito (Montreal, Quebec) (18:13.21) – 1650 freestyle
Jenna Gwinn (Baltimore, Md./Mount de Sales) (31.10) – 50 breaststroke
Caroline Sargent (Trumbull, Conn.) (1:00.81) -100 butterfly
Freshman Claire Custance (Wayne, N.J.) (1:08.23) – 100 breaststroke
Freshman Mya Loniewski (Redford, Mich.) (5:19.82) – 500 freestyle
Junior Sotiria Neofytou (Limassol, Cyprus) (25.73) – 50 butterfly
Freshman Susie Cadigan (Lutherville, Md./Towson)( (2:14.56) – 200 IM
UMBC will travel to George Mason for a dual meet on Saturday, Jan. 18.
