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News Release

RETRIEVER SWIMMING AND DIVING HOSTS EAST CAROLINA SATURDAY FOR SENIOR DAY AND ALUMNI DAY

1/20/2006

Adam Blais is one of seven seniors who will be honored Saturday before the East Carolina meet.

Amber Harris is one of seven seniors who will be honored Saturday before the East Carolina meet.

Baltimore, Md.-The UMBC men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams host East Carolina Saturday, Jan. 21, at 1 p.m. at the UMBC Natatorium for a non-conference dual meet. The women enter the meet with a perfect 8-0 record on the season, while the men are 5-3 overall.

As is tradition at the team’s final home meet of the season, the Retrievers will honor their seven seniors – Adam Blais (Westbrook, Maine/Westbrook), Ian Carey (Glenside, Pa./LaSalle College), Amber Harris (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Arcadia), Elyse Gibson (Nova Scotia, Canada/Queen Elizabeth), Joe Raymond (Laurel, Md./DeMatha), Geza Szabo (Szolnok, Hungary/Ady Endre Gimnazium) and Nebojsa Zimonjic (Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro/Calvert Hall/CCBC-Essex) – in a pre-meet ceremony. UMBC will also welcome back swimming and diving alumni.

A Look Ahead

Saturday, January 21 – East Carolina at UMBC, 1 p.m., UMBC Natatorium: East Carolina’s men head into Saturday’s meet with a 5-1 record, while the women are 7-1. Both teams are coming off losses to Virginia Tech last weekend, their first defeats of the season. When the Retrievers faced the Pirates two years ago, the women fell, 134-109, while the men defeated host East Carolina, 127-114.

Last Time for the Retrievers

Wednesday, January 11 – Men: UMBC 84, Howard 69; Women: UMBC 104, Howard 80: In their first dual meet after a five-week layoff, the Retrievers swept Howard at UMBC Natatorium. The men won all but two events and were led by junior diver Jeff Salgado (Glen Rock, Pa./South Western/St. Bonaventure) and freshman Evan Roseberry (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson), who each claimed two individual victories. Salgado shattered his own school record on the 1-meter board and also won the 3-meter competition, while Roseberry took the 400-IM in 4:13.98 and the 100-free in 49.92. Junior Ashley Houghton (Frederick, Md./Urbana/Pittsburgh) was the only multiple winner for the women, as she swept the diving events. Other individual winners for the Retrievers included Szabo, freshmen Brittany Bertoli (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield), Justin Bronson (Oshawa, Ontario/Msgr. Paul Dwyer), Milos Djukic (Novi Sad, Serbia & Montenegro/Svetozar Markovic), Robin Klein (McMinnville, Ore./McMinnville), Elisha Peregino (Abingdon, Md./Edgewood) and Daniele Surkovich (Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake); sophomores Lindsey Engler (Salisbury, Md./James M. Bennett), Meghan Sackett (Cockeysville, Md./Dulaney/Maryland) and Joey Sementelli (Framingham, Mass./Framingham); and juniors Juan Ortiz (Cali, Colombia/Indian River CC) and Jesse Rowton (College Park, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt). UMBC also swept the relays.

UMBC Records Falling

Thirteen school records have fallen already this season, including all four diving marks and four of five women’s relay records. Salgado has broken the 1-meter mark three times this season. Most recently, he scored 350.55 against Howard, smashing his previous mark of 310.28, which he had set against Bucknell last month. He reset the record for the first time at Binghamton on Nov. 5 with a score of 301.65, nearly 20 points better than Kevin Firman’s original mark of 281.77, which had stood since 1999. Salgado has also broken the 3-meter record twice this season. His score of 301.28 at Binghamton bested his own record of 300.98, which he had set just a week earlier against Navy. Salgado held the record coming into the season at 297.75.

On the women’s side, Houghton 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 Engler’s 24.24, which was set last season. Just minutes later, Klein 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.

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 teammate Agnes 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, Gibson 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 350.55. 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.

New Year’s in the Sunshine State

During their five-week hiatus from competition, the Retrievers spent a week training in Boca Raton, Fla. In addition to an unscored exhibition dual meet against Wagner and Notre Dame, many swimmers competed in the Ocean Mile Swim in Ft. Lauderdale. Surkovich won the women’s competition, completing the mile in 18 minutes, 3 seconds. Freshman Freddie Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) finished eighth overall on the men’s side with a time of 17 minutes, 34 seconds. As a team, the Retriever men won the event, which is sponsored by the International Swimming Hall of Fame, with a combined time of 1:31.34, while the women placed second in 1:35.39.

UMBC Ranks High in Mid-Major Poll

The Retriever men and women both rank in the top 10 in the Mid-Major Division I Power Ranking. After opening the season at the No. 3 spot, the women are fourth in the latest poll, less than three-tenths of a point behind third-place Eastern Michigan. The men, ranked seventh in the first poll, dropped two spots to ninth. Harvard sits atop both the men’s and women’s rankings. Several of UMBC’s dual meet opponents also rank in the top 25, including Navy’s men (2), Navy’s women (12), New Hampshire’s women (17), Binghamton’s men (19), Binghamton’s women (22) and Rider’s men (25). In addition, UNC-Wilmington, one of the Retrievers’ opponents at the George Mason Patriot Invitational, made the list, with the Seahawk men and women both ranked 13th.

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 won four consecutive America East Women’s Swimmer of the Week honors to open the 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 during that time for a total of 12 individual victories, including her record-breaking performance against Navy. She also earned the honor on Jan. 17 after winning both diving events against Howard.

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, then again on Dec. 6 after sweeping the distance events against Bucknell for the fifth time this season. 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. Salgado also earned Diver of the Week honors on Nov. 17 after winning both diving events against Howard and shattering his own school record on the 1-meter board.

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 35: she is 29th in the women’s 1,000-free (10:04.92) and 33rd in the women’s 500-free (4:50.42). She also has the 42nd-best time in the women’s 1,650-free (16:47.07). Stanislawska has the most top-100 times with four: she is 61st in the women’s 200-breast (2:18.55), 63rd in the women’s 100-breast (1:04.24), 85th in the women’s 200-IM (2:05.03) and 92nd in the women’s 200-back (2:03.54).

Other swimmers in the top 100 include Karrer, who is 54th in the men’s 1,650-free (15:46.98); Szabo, who is 59th in the men’s 200-fly (1:50.28); Roseberry, who is 87th in the men’s 1,650-free (15:59.52); sophomore Scott Auchter (Wernersville, Pa./Wilson), who is 94th in the men’s 100-breast (57.62); and Bronson, who is 95th in the men’s 500-free (4:32.20).

Retrievers Top AEC lists

The Retrievers appear many times in the America East top 10 list. On the men’s side, Bronson owns the fastest time in the 500-free, while Karrer has swum the top times in both the 1,000-free and the 1,650-free. Djukic and Zimonjic are tied for the fastest time in the 100-back, Djukic is tops in the 200-back, Auchter owns the 100-breast, Reitz the 200-breast, Szabo the 200-fly and Blais the 200-IM. In addition, Salgado has the top score on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards, and the 800-free relay, 200-medley relay and 400-medley relay are also best in the conference. On the women’s side, Surkovich owns the fastest time in the 50- and 100-free, while Sackett has the 200-, 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-free and Stanislawska has the 200-back, 100- and 200-breast and 200-IM. In addition, Houghton has the top score on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards, and all five relays have the best times in the league.

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 juniors Brian Jaeggi (Newmarket, Ontario, Canada/Sacred Heart) in the 200-back at New Hampshire and Rowton in the 1,000-free against Howard; sophomore Sementelli in the 500-free against Howard; 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, Djukic in the 100-free at New Hampshire, Reitz in the 200-breast against Navy, Roseberry in the 200-free and 200-fly at New Hampshire, Peregino in the 200-free against Howard and Bertoli in the 100-fly against Howard. 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 Ortiz 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 eight times, the 500-free seven times, the 1,000-free and 1,650-free once each, the 200-fly four times and the 400-IM once. In addition, Szabo has won the 200-fly seven of the eight times he has swum it this season, including five times in a row, and Stanislawska has won the 200-breast six of the seven times she has swum it this season. Houghton has won every diving event of the season at dual meets and Salgado has swept the boards at the last six dual meets. Karrer had won the 1,000-free at each meet this season until he finished second against Howard, and he won the 500-free the first five times he swam it before the Patriot Invite. Surkovich has also won the 50-free at the last four meets where she has swum it.

Dawg Bites…

At 8-0, 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 5-3 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 men have won four meets in a row and five of the last six after starting the season 0-2… 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… The women have dominated their opponents in dual meets this season, never winning by less than 24 points… The men have also been dominant in their four victories, winning by an average of 30 points, while two of their three losses have come down to the final relay and were by nine and three points, respectively… 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.

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 Harris 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.

Friday-Sunday, Nov. 18-20 – George Mason Patriot Invitational – 2nd place, 738.5 points: The Retrievers placed second at the George Mason Patriot Invitational with 738.5 team points, breaking eight school records on the weekend, including the 50-free three times and four relays, and five meet records, led by Sackett, who broke three individual school records, three school relay records and five meet records. Sackett paced the Retrievers with four individual victories. Other winners included Surkovich, Stanislawska and the women’s 200-, 400- and 800-free relays. Sackett was the Retrievers’ top point-scorer, as she garnered 80 points. Stanislawska was not far behind with 72 points. In all, 13 swimmers scored for UMBC.

Saturday, Dec. 3 – UMBC 141, Bucknell 94: The host Retrievers defeated Bucknell in convincing fashion, winning all but one event over the Bison. Sackett won three events, while Surkovich, Stanislawska and Houghton each took two and Engler grabbed one. UMBC also swept the relays.

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.

Friday-Sunday, Nov. 18-20 – George Mason Patriot Invitational –2nd place, 742.5 points: The Retrievers placed second at the George Mason Patriot Invitational with a total of 742.5 team points. Szabo was the only individual winner for UMBC, as he took the 200-fly. Bronson and Roseberry paced the men with 56 points apiece, followed by Szabo with 49. In all, 19 Retrievers scored.

Saturday, Dec. 3 – UMBC 142, Bucknell 94: The host Retrievers dominated Bucknell, winning all but one event. Salgado broke his own school 1-meter diving mark and swept the diving events, while Karrer won both distance events. Other winners for the Retrievers included Bronson, Conway, Blais, Szabo, Djukic and Auchter. UMBC also swept the relays.

Coming Up:

The Retrievers travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., next weekend to take on Marist on Saturday, Jan. 28, in the final dual meet of the season before heading to Boston for the America East Championships.