UMBC

Sophomore Tereza Kaplanova won the 200 IM on Day 1 of the Patriot Invite.

Freshman Brad Reitz won the 200 IM on Day 1 of the Patriot Invite

Junior Daniele Surkovich won the 500 free on Day 1 of the Patriot Invite.

FAIRFAX, Va.—The UMBC men’s swimming and diving team leads by almost 200 points after the first day of competition at the George Mason Patriot Invitational in Fairfax, Va., while the women’s team is in second. 

The men’s team has amassed a total of 343 points, while the women have 252.5, just 24 points behind host George Mason.  Both teams won the Patriot Invite in 2006 and are already ahead of where they were last year, as the men’s team totaled 305 points and the women’s 241 points after the first day of competition.

Three Retrievers claimed Patriot Invitational titles on Day 1, as junior Daniele Surkovich (Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake) was victorious in the 500 freestyle, sophomore Tereza Kaplanova (Prague, Czech Republic/J.G. Jankovskeho) won the 200 individual medley, and freshman Brad Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) came out on top in the 200 IM as well.

Surkovich swam a career-best time of 4:55.94, while freshman Rebecca Godwin (Catonsville, Md./Notre Dame Prep) finished third with a career-best time of 5:00.73.

Kaplanova led a 1-2 punch in the 200 IM, winning with a career-best of 2:06.44 and junior Tina Cantwell (Sinking Spring, Pa./The Hill School) followed in second place with a time of 2:08.40.

The story was much the same on the men’s side of the 200 IM as Reitz turned in a winning time of 1:52.23 and sophomore Matt Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) followed with a time of 1:54.94.  Junior Eric Skrabacz (Hollywood, Md./Leonardtown) finished fourth in a career-best time of 1:56.43, while senior Adam Eiben (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) was sixth in 1:57.58.

Kaplanova also teamed with junior Cantwell, sophomore Lindsay Sherman (Bethany, Conn./Amity), and senior Lindsey Engler (Salisbury, Md./James M. Bennett) to win the 400 medley relay in a time of 3:54.03, while the men’s team started off the night with a 1-2 victory in the 200 freestyle relay.

Sophomores Zach Vonder Haar (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus Academy) and Rasmus Kutt (Tallinn, Estonia/Gustav Adolf Gymnasium), junior Sven Schneider (Tallinn, Estonia/Tallinn German Gymnasium/LSU), and Mattingly teamed to win with a time of 1:24.73 while freshman Keilan Freeman (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Argyll Centre), sophomore Fred Deal (Richboro, Pa./Father Judge/Council Rock South), and juniors Milos Djukic (Novi Sad, Serbia/Svetozar Markovic) and Justin Bronson (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada) finished second in 1:25.26.

Other finalists on the women’s side included freshman Crystal Gall (Balgonie, Saskatchewan, Canada/Dr. Martin LeBoldus) who finished second in the 1-meter diving with a score of 237.35, just two-tenths of a point off the winner’s score of 237.55 and Engler, who finished second in the 50 free with her second career-best time of the day, this time finishing with a 24.05.

Engler also led-off the 200 free relay of senior Carly Fitzpatrick (Delran, N.J./Delran), Kaplanova, and Surkovich that placed second with a time of 1:37.37.  The B relay of freshmen Danielle Cruz (Catonsville, Md./Western Tech) and Erin Wohlers (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Charles W. Baker), and juniors Christina Ng (Bethpage, N.Y./Plainedge) and Joy Wilde (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields) finished seventh with a time of 1:39.74.

Other finalists for the men included junior Evan Roseberry (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) who finished second in the 500 free in a time of 4:34.15, Bronson who was right behind him in third with a time of 4:37.62, freshman Mat Carson (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Silverthorn Collegiate Institute) who finished sixth in 4:40.64 and junior Freddie Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) who was eighth in a time of 4:44.18.

Schneider, Kutt, and Vonder Haar rounded out the finalists for the men, finishing third, fifth and eighth in the 50 free with times of 21.44, 21.67, and 21.82, respectively.

Kutt also teamed with senior Scott Auchter (Wernersville, Pa./Wilson), B. Reitz, and Bronson to finish second in the 400 medley relay in a time of 3:27.40, while Djukic, freshman Phil Novotny (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde), Mattingly, and Schneider finished fourth in 3:28.71.

The men’s divers also competed in the preliminaries of the 3-meter board, with freshmen Seth McNew (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood), Chris Cheng (Raleigh, N.C./Enloe), and Mike Morabito (Owego, N.Y./Owego Free Academy) qualifying for tomorrow night’s finals.

The Retrievers will compete in Day 2 of the Patriot Invitational tomorrow with events that include the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, and women’s 3-meter diving slated to begin with a preliminaries session at 10:00 a.m.