UMBC

Ryan Karrer has won the gold medal in the 1,650 free in each of the last two seasons, shattering the conference record in 2006.

Daniele Surkovich is the reigning America East Most Outstanding Rookie.

Baltimore-The UMBC men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will travel to Boston University this weekend for the America East Championships, which begin Thursday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. and conclude Sunday, Feb. 11. The Retriever men, who will be looking for their fourth straight America East title and 10th straight overall conference crown, are 8-1 on the season, while the women hold a 10-1 record.

Men Try for Perfect 10

The UMBC men have won nine straight conference titles, including six in the Eastern College Athletic Conference and the last three in the America East. Since joining the league before the 2003-04 season, the Retrievers have broken the conference record for most team points in the championship meet twice, with 901 points in 2004 and 920 points in 2005.

UMBC has only faced one America East opponent in dual meet action this season, easily defeating Binghamton, 141-99. The Bearcats, who finished second a distant second to the Retrievers last season, lost 2006 America East Most Outstanding Swimmer Kaan Tayla and were projected to place fourth this year in the preseason coaches’ poll. Binghamton is 6-3 on the season and defeated conference foes Stony Brook and Boston University in dual meets.

The Retrievers were a unanimous pick to repeat as conference champions in the preseason poll. Stony Brook, which was picked to place second, finished third at last season’s championships and head into the meet with a 7-3 record, having defeated Maine and Boston U., but falling to Binghamton.

2006 America East Championships

Men’s Final Scores

1. UMBC                 878.5

2. Binghamton           667.5

3. Stony Brook          667

4. Boston U.              487

5. Maine                    320

6. New Hampshire    188

The Retrievers return two 2006 America East champions in senior Ryan Karrer (1,650 free) and sophomore Justin Bronson (500 free). Karrer shattered the conference record in the mile last season. In addition, several swimmers own the fastest times in the conference in their respective events, including sophomore Freddie Reitz in the 500 free, junior Scott Auchter in the 100 and 200 breast, freshman Rasmus Kutt in the 100 and 200 back and sophomore Evan Roseberry in the 1,650 free, while senior diving Jeff Salgado has the top score on the 1-meter board.

Women Look to Unseat New Hampshire

The UMBC women placed second at the 2006 America East Championships, just 54 points behind two-time champion New Hampshire. The Retrievers, however, have already defeated the Wildcats in dual meet action this season, 135-103, and the teams were tied atop the preseason coaches’ poll, each receiving three first-place votes and 33 overall points.

In addition to New Hampshire, which is 4-5 on the season with wins over America East opponents Vermont and Maine and losses to Boston U. as well as UMBC, the Retrievers have also easily defeated Binghamton, 135-103. The Terriers, which finished third in the conference a year ago, is 7-1 on the year with wins over Binghamton, Stony Brook, Maine and New Hampshire.

2006 America East Championships

Women’s Final Scores

1. New Hampshire    787

2. UMBC                 733

3. Boston U.              550

4. Maine                    433

5. Stony Brook          367.5

6. Vermont                314

7. Binghamton           210.5

The Retrievers return three 2006 conference champions, including Rookie of the Meet Daniele Surkovich, who won the 50 free, Diver of the Meet Ashley Houghton, who took the 1-meter board, and junior Meghan Sackett, who won gold medals in the 200, 500 and 1,650 free. In addition, several swimmers own the fastest times in the conference in their respective events, including Sackett in the 500 and 1,650 free, Surkovich in the 50 and 100 free, senior Agnes Stanislawska in the 200 back and 200 IM and sophomore Tina Cantwell in the 100 and 200 breast and 400 IM, while senior diver Ashley Houghton has the top score on the 1-meter board.

Retrievers Getting Noticed: Both Retriever teams rank in the top 10 in the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major poll, as the women are eighth and the men 10th.

Records Falling: Five UMBC school records have been broken so far this season. Senior diver Ashley Houghton broke her own school 1-meter diving record with a score of 281.48 at Towson on Nov. 11, besting her previous school mark of 273.59, which she set on Oct. 29, 2005 against Navy. The next weekend, the Retrievers broke three school records at the George Mason Patriot Invitational. Sophomore Freddie Reitz broke one of the oldest school records, the 500-free, which head coach Chad Cradock set in 1996. Reitz broke Cradock’s previous mark of 4:28.62 by one-tenth of a second, finishing in 4:28.52. Senior Agnes Stanislawska reset her own school record in the 200-IM with an NCAA consideration time of 2:03.74. Her original mark, which she set in 2003, was 2:03.47. Sophomore Daniele Surkovich lowered her own school 50-free record with her leadoff split in the 200-free relay. Her time of 23.74 bested her previous mark of 23.99, which she set at the same meet a year ago. Finally, senior diver Jeff Salgado broke his own 3-meter diving record in the last dual meet of the season against Marist. Salgado scored 318.30, besting his previous mark of 314.85, which he set last season.

Cradock Reaches Milestone: UMBC head coach Chad Cradock notched his milestone 100th career victory when the Retrievers defeated Binghamton on Nov. 4. With 16 combined dual meet wins this season, Cradock now holds a combined record of 113-19 in six seasons at the helm, good for an .856 winning percentage. The UMBC men are 55-10 under Cradock, while the women are 56-15.

America East Recognizes Retrievers: A number of Retrievers have earned America East Performer of the Week awards this season. Most recently, senior Ashley Houghton earned her fourth Women’s Diver of the Week award of the season and senior Agnes Stanislawska garnered her second Women’s Swimmer of the Week honor. Senior Jeff Salgado has won four Men’s Diver of the Week awards this year, while sophomores Evan Roseberry and Justin Bronson and junior Meghan Sackett have each garnered a Swimmer of the Week nod this season.

Cantwell, Stanislawska Earn B Cuts: Sophomore Tina Cantwell became the second Retriever in as many seasons to achieve an NCAA Division-I consideration time with her time of 2:32.83 in the 200-meter breaststroke against Navy. Her time was nearly one full second under the standard of 2:33.63. Senior Agnes Stanislawska’s 2:03.74 in the 200-IM was also a consideration time, as it is nearly four-tenths of a second below the standard of 2:04.13. Meghan Sackett achieved ‘B’ cuts last year in the 500- and 1,650-free. The last Retriever to qualify for the NCAA Championships was Lindsey Prather in the 200-breast in 2001.

Divers Qualify for Zones: Seniors Jeff Salgado, Ashley Houghton and Katie Spohnholz have all qualified for the NCAA Zone Regional diving competition, which will take place at Rutgers University March 2-4. Salgado qualified with a score of 308.40 on the 1-meter board against Rider, while Houghton achieved it with her scores of 270.52 on the 1-meter board at Navy and 280.28 on the 3-meter board against New Hampshire and Wagner. Spohnholz qualified on the 1-meter board at Howard.

Like It’s Our House: For the second year in a row, the Retrievers have broken pool records on the road. Last year it was at New Hampshire’s Swasey Pool; this season it was Navy’s Lejeune Hall and Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium. At Navy, the UMBC team of senior Agnes Stanislawska, freshman Kate Chialastri, sophomore Tina Cantwell and junior Lindsey Engler bested the pool record in the 400-meter medley relay with their time of 4:23.89, six-hundredths of a second lower than the previous mark of 4:23.95. Cantwell also broke the pool record in the 200-breast but her mark will not stand as she was beaten in the event by Navy’s Mallory Dietrich, who won in 2:32.47. Both times shattered the previous pool record of 2:36.30. At Bucknell, sophomore Evan Roseberry set a new pool mark in the 1,000-free with his winning time of 9:31.66. The Retrievers also set new George Mason Invitational records in the men’s 400-medley relay, as freshman Rasmus Kutt, junior Scott Auchter, sophomore Justin Bronson and senior Tim Conway won in 3:23.19. Stanislawska’s school record 2:03.74 in the 200-IM was also a GMU Invite best.

Sackett Wins Ocean Mile Swim: For the second year in a row, a Retriever won the Ocean Mile Swim female competition on New Year’s Day in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., as junior Meghan Sackett finished first this season. Last year’s winner, sophomore Daniele Surkovich, placed second. Junior Erin Mathews placed 10th overall. On the men’s side, the Retrievers were led by senior Brian Jaeggi, who came in fourth, followed by sophomores Evan Roseberry and Freddie Reitz in fifth and eighth, respectively.