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News Release

RETRIEVER SWIMMING AND DIVING HOSTS BUCKNELL SATURDAY

12/2/2005

Geza Szabo and the Retrievers host Bucknell Saturday.

Baltimore, Md.-After a two-week break, the UMBC men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams return to action Saturday, Dec. 3, as they host non-conference foe Bucknell at 1 p.m. at the UMBC Natatorium. The women enter the meet with a perfect 6-0 dual meet record, while the men are 3-3.

A Look Ahead

Saturday, December 3 – Bucknell at UMBC, 1 p.m., UMBC Natatorium: Bucknell’s men head into Saturday’s meet with a 1-1 record, while the women are 2-0. The Bison are coming off the Bucknell Damon’s Trials/Finals Invitational, where the women placed second and the men finished third. Earlier in the season, the Bison men lost, 193-107, to the same Navy team which edged UMBC by nine points Oct. 29, While Bucknell’s women defeated the Mids, 155-143, not long after the Retriever women dominated Navy. Both Bison teams were ranked in the first Mid-Major Power Rankings of the season, as the men were picked 11th and the women 16th.

Last Time for the Retrievers

Friday-Sunday, November 18-20 – George Mason Patriot Invitational, Fairfax, Va. – Women 2nd, Men 2nd: The Retriever men and women both placed second at the George Mason Patriot Invitational Nov. 18-20, with the men amassing a total of 742.5 team points and the women racking up 738.5. Yale’s men and women both won the meet. The Retriever women broke eight school records on the weekend, including the 50-free three times and four relays, and five meet records, led by sophomore Meghan Sackett (Cockeysville, Md./Dulaney/Maryland), who broke three individual school records, three school relay records and five meet records.

UMBC had eight individual victories and four relay wins on the weekend. Senior Geza Szabo (Szolnok, Hungary/Ady Endre Gimnazium) was the only individual winner on the men’s side (200 fly), while Sackett paced the women with four individual victories (100-free, 200-free, 500-free, 1,650-free). Other winners included freshman Daniele Surkovich (Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake) in the 50-free, junior Agnes Stanislawska (Zielona Gora, Poland/LO VI Zielona Gora) in the 100- and 200-breast, the men’s 800-free relay and the women’s 200-, 400- and 800-free relays. Sackett was the Retriever women’s top point-scorer, as she garnered 80 points. Stanislawska was not far behind with 72 points. Freshmen Justin Bronson (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/MSGR. Paul Dwyer) and Evan Roseberry (Sinking Springs, Pa./Wilson) paced the men with 56 points apiece, followed by Szabo with 49. In all, 19 men and 13 women scored for the Retrievers.

UMBC Records Falling

Thirteen school records have fallen already this season, including all four diving marks and four of five women’s relay records. Junior Jeff Salgado (Glen Rock, Pa./South Western/St. Bonaventure) shattered Kevin Firman’s six-year-old 1-meter mark of 281.77 by nearly 20 points with a score of 301.65 against Binghamton on Nov. 5, and his score of 301.28 on the 3-meter board at the same meet bested his own record of 300.98, which he had set just a week earlier against Navy. On the women’s side, junior Ashley Houghton (Frederick, Md./Urbana/Pittsburgh) smashed teammate Katie Spohnholz’s previous 3-meter record of 270.60, set last season, with her own score of 293.40 against Navy. Houghton also broke Tammy Hendricks’ seven-year-old 1-meter mark of 271.50 with her score of 273.59 in the same meet.

The 50-yard freestyle record fell three times in a matter of hours on the first day of the George Mason Patriot Invitational Nov. 18. Surkovich swam a 24.13 in the preliminaries, besting teammate Lindsey Engler’s 24.24, which was set last season. Just minutes later, freshman Robin Klein (McMinnville, Ore./McMinnville) took down Surkovich’s mark with a 24.06 in a swim-off to determine if she would swim in the finals or the consolation heat. In the evening session, Surkovich reclaimed the record, winning the event in 23.99.

Sophomore Sackett took down four individual school records in the month of November. First she shattered UMBC’s 16-year-old 1,000-yard freestyle record by nearly 12 seconds, swimming a time of 10:04.92 at Seton Hall Nov. 6. Sue Herzog’s 10:16.71 had stood as the school best since 1989. Sackett next broke Herzog’s 500-free mark of 4:54.20, also set in 1989, against Towson on Nov. 12 with a time of 4:53.57, which stood for a week before she lowered the record again to 4:50.42 at the George Mason Patriot Invitational. Sackett also smashed Herzog’s 1,650-free mark by nearly 12 seconds at the George Mason Invite with a time of 16:47.07. Like her other three former records, Herzog’s 16:58.57 had stood as the school best since 1989. Finally, Sackett bested Stanislawska’s 200-free mark of 1:51.26, set in 2004, with a time of 1:51.22 at George Mason.

The Retriever women also broke four of five school relay records at the George Mason Patriot Invitational. Klein, Engler, senior Elyse Gibson (Nova Scotia, Canada/Queen Elizabeth) and Surkovich bested the 10-year-old 200-free relay mark of 1:37.32 with their time of 1:36.48, while Surkovich, Klein, Sackett and Gibson lowered the 11-year-old 400-free relay record of 3:31.29 to 3:29.02. In addition, Surkovich, Stanislawska, Klein and Sackett reset the 11-year-old 800-free relay record of 7:36.64 with their time of 7:34.75, and Stanislawska, Klein, Sackett and Engler swam a 1:47.67 in the 200-medley relay to best the 2003 mark of 1:48.06.

Retrievers Make NCAA Cuts

Salgado and Houghton have each qualified for the NCAA Zone Regionals. Salgado made the cut on the 1-meter board with his score of 301.65. He needed a 300 to qualify. Houghton has achieved the cut on both boards, as her scores of 271.50 on the 1-meter and 293.40 on the 3-meter surpass the qualifying marks of 265 and 280, respectively. In addition, Sackett has achieved a ‘B’ cut in both the 500-free and 1,650-free with her time of 4:50.42 and 16:47.07, respectively.

UMBC Ranks High in First Mid-Major Poll

The Retriever men and women both rank in the top 10 in the first Mid-Major Division I Power Ranking of the season, which was released Wednesday. The women are third, less than three-tenths of a point behind second-place Toledo, while the men rank seventh. Denver sits atop the women’s poll, while Missouri State leads the pack on the men’s side. Several of UMBC’s dual meet opponents also rank in the top 25, including Navy’s men (2), New Hampshire’s women (8), Bucknell’s men (11), Navy’s women (11), Binghamton’s men (13), Rider’s men (15) Bucknell’s women (16) and Rider’s women (24). In addition, UNC-Wilmington and George Washington, two of the Retrievers’ opponents at the George Mason Patriot Invitational, made the list, with the Seahawks’ men and women both ranked fifth, while the Colonial men are 19th and the women are 22nd.

The Power Rankings are a relative indication of a team’s strength in dual meets. The mid-major poll supports institutions that do not benefit from large football and basketball television agreements and are based on each team’s best dual meet lineup as judged and submitted by participating teams.

Retrievers Garner Weekly Conference Honors

Sackett has swept the America East Women’s Swimmer of the Week honors for each of the first four weeks the conference has handed out the awards this season. She earned the honor on Nov. 1 after winning eight events in three meets and coming within six-hundredths of a second of breaking UMBC’s 500-free mark, then again on Nov. 8 after her record-breaking performance at Seton Hall, in which she defeated her closest competition by nearly 30 seconds in the 1,000-free, swimming the event for the first time this season, and also won two other events on the weekend. On Nov. 15, Sackett received the award for a third time after winning the 200- and 500-free and the 400-free relay against Towson and breaking the school’s 16-year-old 500-free record. She garnered her fourth consecutive conference honor on Nov. 22 after breaking three individual school records, three school relay records and five meet records and winning four individual events and two relays.

Houghton was named America East Women’s Diver of the Week each of the first three weeks of the season after sweeping the diving events at all six of UMBC’s dual meets for a total of 12 individual victories, including her record-breaking performance against Navy.

Three UMBC men have also earned conference performer of the week nods. Junior Ryan Karrer (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional) was named Men’s Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 1 after sweeping the distance freestyle events in each of the Retrievers’ first three meets and breaking New Hampshire’s Swasey Pool record in the 1,000-free. On Nov. 15, Bronson and Salgado were tabbed Men’s Co-Swimmer and Co-Diver of the Week, respectively. Bronson won both the 200- and 500-free against Towson, posting what was then UMBC’s fastest time of the year in the 500-free despite swimming the event for the first time this season. Salgado swept the diving events against Towson for the fourth straight meet.

Lady Retrievers Knock Off Defending Champs

UMBC’s women defeated defending America East champion New Hampshire, 141-102, on Oct. 30, to remain perfect at 3-0 on the season. The Wildcats had not lost a dual meet since Jan. 19, 2004, at Northeastern, a streak of nine consecutive dual meet victories. The Retrievers won all but four events on the day.

Retrievers Crack Top 100

Several Retrievers have cracked the top 100 fastest times in the country this season. Sackett leads the way with two times in the top 25: she is 21st in the women’s 1,650-free (16:47.07) and 23rd in the women’s 500-free (4:50.42). She also has the 83rd-best time in the 200-free (1:51.22). Other swimmers in the top 50 include Karrer, who is 31st in the men’s 1,650-free (15:46.98); Szabo, who is 40th in the men’s 200-fly (1:50.28); and Stanislawska, who is 45th in the women’s 100-breast (1:04.25) and 48th in the women’s 200-breast (2:18.55). Stanislawska is also 60th in the women’s 200-IM (2:05.03) and 82nd in the women’s 200-back (2:03.54). Other Retrievers in the top 100 include Roseberry, who is 59th in the men’s 1,650-free (15:59.52); Bronson, who is 65th in the men’s 500-free (4:32.20); sophomore Scott Auchter (Wernersville, Pa./Wilson), who is 65th in the men’s 100-breast (57.62); senior Adam Blais (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook), who is 82nd in the men’s 200-IM (1:53.41); and freshman Freddie Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard), who is 92nd in the 500-free (4:34.43) and 97th in the 200-breast (2:06.86).

In addition, all five of UMBC’s relays on both the men’s and women’s side rank in the top 100. The women’s 800-free relay leads the way at 27th (7:34.75), followed by the men’s 800-free relay at 32 (6:52.21). The women’s 400-free relay is 43rd (3:29.02), while the women’s 200-free relay is 49th (1:36.48) and both the women’s 200- and 400-medley relays are 61st (1:47.67 and 3:55.20, respectively). On the men’s side, the 400-medley relay is 47th (3:25.39), while the 400-free relay is 56th (3:07.88), the 200-medley relay is 60th (1:34.75) and the 200-free relay is 63rd (1:25.45).

Retriever Firsts

A number of Retriever newcomers have picked up the first victories of their UMBC careers in the early parts of the 2005-06 campaign, including junior Brian Jaeggi (Newmarket, Ontario, Canada/Sacred Heart) in the 200-back at New Hampshire and freshmen Tina Cantwell (Sinking Spring, Pa./The Hill School) in the 200-breast at Binghamton, Klein in the 50-free at New Hampshire, Surkovich in the 50- and 100-free against Navy, Bronson in the 200-free against Navy, Milos Djukic (Novi Sad, Serbia & Montenegro/Svetozar Markovic) in the 100-free at New Hampshire, Reitz in the 200-breast against Navy and Roseberry in the 200-free and 200-fly at New Hampshire. In addition, transfers Houghton and Sackett each picked up their first Retriever wins in the first meet of the season at Rider and junior transfer Juan Ortiz (Cali, Columbia/Indian River CC) won the 200-IM against Navy.

Retriever Streaks

Other than the preliminaries of the 100-free at the George Mason Patriot Invitational, Sackett has won every individual event which she has swum this season, including the 100-free once, the 200-free seven times, the 500-free six times, the 1,000-free and 1,650-free once each and the 200-fly three times. In addition, Szabo has won the 200-fly six of the seven times he has swum it this season. Before the GMU Invite, Houghton had won every diving event of the season and Salgado had swept the boards in the four previous meets. Karrer has also won the 1,000-free at each meet this season and won the 500-free the first five times he swam it before the Patriot Invite.

Dawg Bites…

At 6-0, the women are off to their best start since 2003-04, when they won the first eight dual meets of the season and finished the year 12-1… The men open the season 3-3 for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign. They rebounded from a rough start that year to finish with a 7-4 overall record and Northeast Conference and Eastern College Athletic Conference titles… The Retriever men broke three Swasey Pool records in the Oct. 30 dual meet at New Hampshire. Karrer set the 1,000-free mark at 9:33.04, while the 400-medley relay team of Djukic, Auchter, Bronson and Blais lowered the pool mark with a time of 3:34.59. In addition, Djukic’s leadoff split of 52.65 in the 100-back was a new pool record… Sackett and Stanislawska each hold UMBC’s top times of the season in five different events, while Surkovich has been fastest on the team in three events this year and Cantwell is tops in one… The men are led by Bronson, who holds three team top times on the season, followed by Karrer, Djukic and Szabo, who have each been fastest in two events on the year… The women have dominated their opponents in dual meets this season, never winning by less than 31 points… The men have also been dominant in their three victories, winning by an average of nearly 43 points, while two of their three losses have come down to the final relay and were by nine and three points, respectively.

A Look Back: Women

Saturday Oct. 22 – UMBC 146, Rider 95: The Retriever women defeated host Rider, 146-95. Stanislawska, Houghton and Sackett led the way with two individual victories apiece. Engler  was the only other individual winner for UMBC, which also swept the relay events.

Saturday, Oct. 29 – UMBC 141, Navy 96: The Retriever women dominated Navy at UMBC Natatorium, winning all but one event to hand the Mids their first lost of the season. Sackett won three events, while Houghton, Stanislawska and Surkovich won two apiece, with Houghton breaking both diving records. Sophomore Rachel Lesslie (Kingston, Ontario, Canada/Holy Cross) was the only other individual winner for UMBC, which also swept the relays.

Sunday, Oct. 30 – UMBC 141, New Hampshire 102: The visiting Retrievers defeated the defending America East champions by winning all but four events at New Hampshire. Sackett came away with three individual victories, while Stanislawska and Houghton each won two and Klein won the first event of her collegiate career. UMBC also won the 400-free relay.

Saturday, Nov. 5 – UMBC 166, Binghamton 74: The visiting Retrievers dominated America East rival Binghamton by winning all but one event. Houghton, Surkovich and senior Amber Harris (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Arcadia) won two events apiece, while Sackett, Klein and Lesslie each won one and Cantwell notched the first victory of her career. UMBC also swept the relays.

Sunday, Nov. 6 – UMBC 143, Seton Hall 98: The Retriever women defeated host Seton Hall, 143-98. Sackett swept the distance freestyle events, shattering the 1,000-free record in the process. Surkovich and Houghton also won two events each, while Harris, Engler and Stanislawska each took one. UMBC again swept the relays.

Saturday, Nov. 12 – UMBC 146.5, Towson 85.5: The host Retrievers dominated local rival Towson, winning every event. Sackett broke the 500-free record and also won the 200-free. Surkovich, Stanislawska and Houghton also won two events apiece, while Lesslie, Klein and Harris each came away with one individual victory. The Retrievers swept the relays for the third consecutive dual meet.

A Look Back: Men

Saturday, Oct. 22 – Rider 130.5, UMBC 110.5: The Retriever men fell to host Rider, 130.5-110.5. The loss broke a streak of 21 straight victories which dated to Nov. 1, 2003, when they were edged by Navy, 122-121. Karrer swept the distance freestyle events, while Szabo took the 200-fly. UMBC also won the 400-free relay.

Saturday, Oct. 29 – Navy 127, UMBC 116: The meet came down to the final event of the afternoon, the 400-free relay, but Navy’s ‘A’ team beat host UMBC’s ‘A’ team by two and a half seconds to eke out the victory. Karrer swept the distance events, while Bronson, Reitz and Ortiz each won the first events of their UMBC careers and Szabo won the 200-fly for the second consecutive meet. Salgado finished second in both diving events, breaking the school 3-meter mark.

Sunday, Oct. 30 – UMBC 96, New Hampshire 63: The visiting Retrievers picked up their first dual meet victory of the season at host New Hampshire, sweeping the meet and breaking three Swasey Pool records in the process. Karrer and Salgado swept the distance and diving events, respectively, while Roseberry picked up the first two individual victories of his career and Blais won his first two events of the season. Djukic and Jaeggi also won the first events of their careers and the Retrievers won both relays.

Saturday, Nov. 5 – Binghamton 123, UMBC 120: Another meet coming down to the final relay, another meet resulting in a Retriever loss, as visiting UMBC was edged by America East rival Binghamton, which finished second at the 2005 conference championship. Salgado broke both diving records, while Karrer swept the distance events and Djukic won the 200-back.

Sunday, Nov. 6 – UMBC 143, Seton Hall 84: The visiting Retrievers defeated host Seton Hall in convincing fashion, taking all but three events. Karrer and Salgado again won two events apiece, while Djukic, Bronson, Szabo, Blais and Reitz each won one. UMBC also swept the relays.

Saturday, Nov. 12 – UMBC 94, Towson 58: The host Retrievers won every event over local rival Towson. Junior Tim Conway (Brick, N.J./Brick Township Memorial) won his first two events of the season, sweeping the sprint freestyles, while Bronson and Salgado also came away with two individual victories. Other winners for UMBC, which also swept the relays, included Karrer, Ortiz, Szabo, Djukic and Reitz.

Coming Up:

UMBC will have nearly six weeks off for training before resuming its dual meet schedule by hosting regional foe Howard on Jan. 11.