UMBC

Printer Friendly  Email This Page
News Release

Swimming and Diving Notebook: UMBC Inks Record Number in Early Signing Period

11/27/2006

Head coach Chad Cradock announced the Retrievers' early signing class.

Baltimore-UMBC head swimming and diving coach Chad Cradock announced today that seven high school seniors have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Retrievers next season, the most ever for UMBC in the early signing period.

Four of the recruits are familiar with Cradock and his coaching staff, as they currently swim for the Retriever Aquatic Club. Danielle Cruz (Baltimore, Md./Western Tech) specializes in freestyle and breaststroke, while Rebecca Godwin (Catonsville, Md./Notre Dame Prep) swims free, breast and individual medley. On the men’s side, Bradley Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard), the younger brother of current Retriever Freddie Reitz, specializes in mid-free, butterfly and IM, while Daniel Weston-Dawkes (Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake) swims breast, free and IM.

Joining Cruz and Godwin on the women’s team will be Gabrielle Johnson (Windsor, Conn./Loomis Chaffee), who specializes in breaststroke and butterfly, and Sarah Ryan (Rockville Center, N.Y./Oceanside), who swims free and fly. Ryan also swam for the Long Island Express club team.

Joining Reitz and Weston on the men’s team will be Philip Novotny (Fairfield, Conn./Warfield Warde), who specializes in breaststroke and individual medley. Novotny also swam for the Westport Water Rats club team.

Retrievers Ranked High: Both the Retriever men and women are ranked in the top 10 in the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Power Rankings. The men (4-1) are ranked seventh with 167.87 points, just 0.95 points behind sixth-place Southern Illinois and only 4.1 points out of second place. Navy sits atop the poll with 180.63 points.

On the women’s side, the Retrievers (6-1) are ranked eighth with 166.95 points, just nine-hundredths of a point behind seventh-place St. Louis and less than 10 full points behind first-place Harvard.

The Retrievers return to action this weekend as they head to Bucknell for a 12 p.m. meet on Sunday, Dec. 3.