UMBC

Sophomore Justin Bronson added his eighth straight win in the 200 free on Saturday.

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.—Seniors Scott Auchter (Wernersville, Pa./Wilson) and Lindsey Engler (Salisbury, Md./James M. Bennett) went out in style in the final dual meet of their careers, tallying three victories each as the UMBC men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams rolled over Marist to complete the 2007-08 dual meet season on Saturday.  The Retriever men (6-1) bested the Red Foxes (6-3) by a score of 179-119, while the women (4-4) prevailed over Marist (5-4) by a score of 155-137.

Both Auchter and Engler started the meet off as part of the winning 200 medley relay as Auchter teamed with junior Sven Schneider (Tallinn, Estonia/Tallin German Gymnazium/LSU), freshman Brad Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) and sophomore Zach Vonder Haar (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus Academy) to win with a time of 1:37.18, while Engler anchored the relay team of sophomore Tereza Kaplanova (Prague, Czech Republic/J.G. Jarkovskeho), junior Tina Cantwell (Sinking Spring, Pa./The Hill School), and sophomore Lindsay Sherman (Bethany, Conn./Amity) to win in 1:51.70.

On the men’s side, the Retrievers also took second-place as sophomores Rasmus Kutt (Tallinn, Estonia/Gustav Adolf Gymnazium) and Matt Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West), junior Justin Bronson (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/Msgr. Paul Dwyer), and freshman Eric Jones (Gambrills, Md./Arundel) turned in a time of 1:37.23, just five one-hundredths of a second behind the first-place relay.

The men would take 12 more victories on the day, including recording Retriever sweeps in the 1000 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke, and came up short in just one swimming event during the competition, the 50 freestyle.

Auchter led the sweep in the 200 breast, turning in a winning time of 2:15.76 and also won the 100 breast with a time of 1:00.68, while Kutt led sweeps of both the 100 and 200 backstrokes with times of 55.28 and 1:55.92.  The sophomore finishes the dual-meet season undefeated in the 200 back after adding his ninth consecutive victory in the event on Saturday.

Bronson also extended his unbeaten streak as he tallied his eighth straight win in the 200 free with a time of 1:43.41 and is undefeated for the season.  The junior also added a victory in the 100 butterfly in 52.98 and teamed with Vonder Haar, freshman Keilan Freeman (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Argyll Centre), and Schneider to win the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:27.72.

Freeman led a sweep of the 1000 freestyle with a time of 9:58.33, while brothers Brad and Freddie Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) each added one victory apiece with Brad posting a time of 1:58.03 in the 200 fly and Freddie recording a time of 4:47.52 in the 500 free.

The only other individual winners on the men’s side were freshman Mat Carson (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Silverthorn Collegiate Institute) who won the 400 IM in 4:09.22 and Jones who was victorious in the 100 free in 48.21.

On the women’s side, the Retrievers swept four events, including Engler’s win the 100 freestyle.  The senior turned in a time of 53.82 in addition to winning the 50 free with a time of 24.63. 

Kaplanova was another big winner for the Retrievers, taking home four wins on the day in the 100 back, 200 breast, and as part of the 200 medley and 200 free relays.  The sophomore led a sweep of the 200 breast with time of 2:22.63 and won the 100 back in 1:01.25 before teaming with junior Daniele Surkovich (Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake), senior Carly Fitzpatrick (Delran, N.J./Delran), and freshman Erin Wohlers (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Charles W. Baker) to win the 200 free relay in 1:41.22.

Surkovich took a victory in the 1000 free in a time of 10:24.31, while Cantwell led a sweep in the 100 breast with a time of 1:06.20 and in the 200 back in 2:15.40.

Freshman Rebecca Godwin led the only other sweep of the day as she took the 400 individual medley in 4:41.49 and Sherman and freshman Sarah Ryan (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Oceanside) tallied the only other individual victories as Sherman won the 200 fly in 2:09.36 and Ryan topped the field in the 200 free with a time of 1:57.38.

The Retrievers will take three weeks off from competition before traveling to Orono, Maine from Feb. 14-17 to compete at the America East Championships.