UMBC

Ashley Houghton won two golds and was named America East Most Outstanding Female Diver for the second year in a row.

Rasmus Kutt earned America East Most Outstanding Male Rookie.

Boston-The UMBC men’s swimming and diving team was crowned America East Conference Champions Sunday evening for the fourth year in a row. This year, however, was different, as for the first time the Retriever women shared in the glory, claiming their first-ever America East title, marking the fourth time in conference history but first in a decade that the same school has won both the men’s and women’s championships.

The Retriever men amassed 876.5 team points to hold off runners-up Binghamton (805). Stony Brook placed third (506.5), followed by host Boston University (448) and Maine (393).

UMBC ties an America East record with its fourth-straight conference championship, as Delaware won four in a row from 1997-2000. The league crown is actually the Retrievers’ 10th straight, as they took six ECAC titles from 1998-2003 before joining the America East in 2003-04. Since then, UMBC has dominated the conference, winning every year.

The Retriever women totaled 719 team points to defeat runner-up Boston University (616) by more than 100 points and unseat two-time defending champion New Hampshire, which placed third (596). Maine (462), Vermont (454), Stony Brook (264) and Binghamton (247) round out the seven-team field.

The last time the same school won both the men’s and women’s America East Championships was 1997 when Delaware accomplished the feat. Boston University has also done it twice, in 1990 and 1994. It also marks the fifth time the Retriever men and women have both won conference championships, as they each claimed the Northeast Conference title in 2000, 2002 and 2003 and the ECAC crown in 1999.

UMBC senior Agnes Stanislawska won the Senior Coaches Award, which is given to the male and female senior who has earned the most points from freshman through senior year.

The Retrievers swept the Male and Female Most Outstanding Diver awards, as senior Ashley Houghton claimed the honor for the second straight year and was joined by classmate Jeff Salgado. Houghton won both diving competitions, while Salgado placed second in both events.

UMBC freshman Rasmus Kutt, who won the 100-back and also took a silver and a bronze, was named Most Outstanding Male Rookie.

Junior Meghan Sackett started the evening with a splash for the Retrievers as she successfully defended her title in the 1,650 free, winning in an NCAA consideration time of 16:51.79. Juniors Rachel Lesslie (17:29.59) and Erin Mathews (18:04.29) placed fifth and 12th, respectively, while senior Jesse Rowton (18:05.59) finished 14th.

In the next women’s event, Stanislawska won gold in the 200-back with an NCAA consideration time of 2:01.01. Just minutes after swimming the mile, Lesslie placed eighth in the 200-back in 2:12.44, while junior Mary Scott finished 15th (2:16.21).

After tying Stanislawska’s school record in the 100-free in the morning prelims (51.75), sophomore Daniele Surkovich claimed it for her own in the evening finals, finishing second in 51.49. Junior Lindsey Engler placed fifth in the event (52.71).

Sophomore Tina Cantwell claimed her second gold medal of the weekend and UMBC’s third in four events on the evening when she won the 200-breast in an NCAA consideration time of 2:16.14. Freshman Tereza Kaplanova won bronze (2:21.95) while sophomore Joy Wilde placed fourth (2:25.06).     

Houghton and senior Katie Spohnholz provided a one-two UMBC punch in the 1-meter diving competition, sweeping the gold and silver with scores of 258.45 and 247.75, respectively.

Freshman Lindsey Sherman took the bronze medal in the 200-fly, placing third in 2:06.59, while classmate Kate Chialastri finished seventh (2:09.08) and senior Amy Mensch came in 15th (2:17.93).     

The Retriever women went out with a bang in the final event of the meet, breaking school, meet and pool records in the 400-free relay. Surkovich, Engler, Stanislawska and Sackett finished first in 3:27.90, breaking Binghamton’s meet record of 3:28.30 set in 2003. UMBC’s previous school record of 3:28.45 was set at the 2006 conference championships by Surkovich, Sackett and former Retrievers Robin Klein and Elyse Gibson.

In addition, Surkovich reset the school 100-free record with her leadoff split of 51.06, besting the time she swam earlier in the evening by more than four-tenths of a second.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

On the men’s side, senior Ryan Karrer won his third straight conference title in the 1,650-free, finishing in 15:39.62. He lead a UMBC sweep in the event, as sophomore Evan Roseberry placed second (15:39.97) for the second year in a row and junior Joey Sementelli finished third (16:05.26). Senior Cliff Schmardel also placed fifth in the mile (16:20.83).

Sophomore Justin Bronson led a Retriever-dominated 100-free, winning the gold in 45.98 after taking silver last year. Freshman Matt Mattingly placed fourth (47.11), while seniors Juan Ortiz (47.43) and Tim Conway (47.73) finished fifth and seventh, respectively, and freshman Zach Vonder Haar came in eighth (48.18). In addition, junior Adam Eiben competed in the consolation heat and placed 11th overall in 47.78.

Kutt (1:50.01) and sophomore Milos Djukic (1:51.78) took silver and bronze, respectively, in the 200-back, while senior Brian Jaeggi placed sixth (1:54.15). Junior Scott Auchter placed second in the 200-breast (2:05.46), while sophomore Freddie Reitz (2:10.04) and senior Pat Woodward (2:11.29) swam in the consolation heat and placed 10th and 11th overall, respectively. Junior Eric Skrabacz, UMBC’s lone representative in the 200-fly finals, placed seventh in 2:00.01.

In the final event of the evening, Mattingly, Ortiz, Eiben and Bronson placed second in the 400-free relay in 3:06.34.

During the four-day competition, the Retriever women won 12 gold medals and broke nine school records – including all five relay marks – and two meet records. The UMBC men claimed four conference titles and broke one school mark and one meet record.

Women’s Final Team Scores

1. UMBC                 719

2. Boston U.              616

3. New Hampshire    596

4. Maine                    462

5. Vermont                454

6. Stony Brook          264

7. Binghamton           247

Men’s Final Team Scores

1. UMBC                 876.5

2. Binghamton           805

3. Stony Brook          506.5

4. Boston U.              488

5. Maine                    393

UMBC Women’s Gold Medal Count

Tina Cantwell – 100 Breast, 200 Breast

Ashley Houghton – 1M Dive, 3M Dive

Meghan Sackett – 500 Free, 1650 Free

Agnes Stanislawska – 200 IM, 200 Back

Daniele Surkovich – 50 Free

400 Free Relay (Surkovich, Engler, Stanislawska, Sackett)

800 Free Relay (Surkovich, Stanislawska, Engler, Sackett)

400 Medley Relay (Stanislawska, Cantwell, Surkovich, Sackett)

UMBC Men’s Gold Medal Count

Justin Bronson – 100 Free

Ryan Karrer – 1650 Free

Rasmus Kutt – 100 Back

800 Free Relay (Bronson, Reitz, Roseberry, Ortiz)

UMBC Women’s School Records Broken

50 Free – Daniele Surkovich

100 Free – Daniele Surkovich

200 Free – Daniele Surkovich

200 IM – Agnes Stanislawska

200 Free Relay (Surkovich, Fitzpatrick, Kaplanova, Engler)

400 Free Relay (Surkovich, Engler, Stanislawska, Sackett)

800 Free Relay (Surkovich, Stanislawska, Engler, Sackett)

200 Medley Relay (Stanislawska, Cantwell, Sackett, Engler)

400 Medley Relay (Stanislawska, Cantwell, Surkovich, Sackett)

UMBC Men’s School Records Broken

100 Breast – Scott Auchter

800 Free Relay (Bronson, Reitz, Roseberry, Ortiz)

America East Championship Women’s Records Broken by UMBC

400 Free Relay (Surkovich, Engler, Stanislawska, Sackett)

800 Free Relay (Surkovich, Stanislawska, Engler, Sackett)

America East Championship Men’s Records Broken by UMBC

100 Back – Rasmus Kutt

800 Free Relay (Bronson, Reitz, Roseberry, Ortiz)