Women’s Swimming & Diving Races Past VMI and Saint Peter’s

BALTIMORE – The UMBC Women's Swimming & Diving team made an emphatic return to the pool as it defeated both VMI and Saint Peter's on Saturday at the UMBC Aquatic Complex.

The Retrievers defeated VMI 222-72 and beat Saint Peter's 237-56.

The program celebrated Faculty Appreciation Day by welcoming their favorite professors for a pool deck ceremony prior to the meet. Dr. Conor Donnan (American Studies), C. NaTasha Richburg (Information Systems), Guenet Abraham (Visual Arts) and Dr.Pamela Rakshan Rouhakhtar (Psychology) were all honored.

"Great job today in the pool followed by a few amazing weeks of training," said head coach Matt Donovan. "The real stars of the day were the professors that we had the honor to recognize before the meet. They are the reason there is the Student in Student-Athlete. We are so proud to dedicate our success in the pool to them and the countless hours they put in to make the UMBC community the success that it is."

The meet started off with a bang as UMBC's 200 Medley Relay team of Bruna de Padua, Elze Bielskute, Nicol Davanzo and Ashley Gutshall won by over six seconds.

Kolby Reese then won the 1000 Free in a time of 10:57.67, nearly 11 seconds better than second place, followed by Breanna Smith (1:58.12) and Makaela Hill (1:59.70) taking the top two spots in the 200 Free.

In the 100 Back, de Padua (59.05) and Ella Nadeau (1:02.52) went one-tw0, before Hailey Weigand won the 100 Breaststroke in 1:10.77. Gutshall returned to the top of the podium in both the 50 Free (24.12) and the 200 Back (2:14.55).

Hill (53.09) and Claire Oettinger (54.20) took gold and silver in the 100 Free, while Bielskute (2:25.85), Ula Parrill (2:28.59), Nicole Lopez Kohlmann (2:33.31) and Weigand (2:33.31) took the top four spots in the 200 Breaststroke.

Nadeau won the 500 Free by nearly nine seconds as she touched the wall in 5:24.78, and Davanzo then won the 200 IM in 2:12.69.

The 400 Free Relay team of Bielskute, Oettinger, Hill and de Padua easily took gold by over seven seconds (3:38.07) to close the meet.

In the diving portion, Ember Stennett (254.33), Joella Mills (227.10), Alicia Buteau (197.70) and Isabella Evers (188.18) took the top four spots in the 3 Meter dive. Mills (227.93) and Buteau (215.55) then went one-two in the 1 Meter.

The Retrievers have a week off before a three day meet at Bucknell

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Players Mentioned

Alicia Buteau: Diving; Sophomore

Isabella Evers: Diving; Sophomore

Makaela Hill: Sprint Free; Senior

Elze Bielskute: Breast/Free; 5' 7"; Junior

Bruna de Padua: Distance; Sophomore

Ashley Gutshall: Sprint Free; 5' 10"; Freshman

Joella Mills: Diving; 5' 3"; Junior

Ula Parrill: Breast/Free; 5' 5"; Freshman

Ember Stennett: Diving; 5' 5"; Freshman

Nicol Davanzo: Fly; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Alicia Buteau
: Sophomore
: Diving

Isabella Evers
: Sophomore
: Diving

Makaela Hill
: Senior
: Sprint Free

Elze Bielskute
: 5' 7"; Junior
: Breast/Free

Bruna de Padua
: Sophomore
: Distance

Ashley Gutshall
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: Sprint Free

Joella Mills
: 5' 3"; Junior
: Diving

Ula Parrill
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: Breast/Free

Ember Stennett
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: Diving

Nicol Davanzo
: Freshman
: Fly