UMBC

Junior Tina Cantwell set a new record in the 100 breaststroke and was part of the record-setting 400 medley relay on Saturday.

ORONO, Maine—The UMBC men’s swimming and diving team leads second-place Boston University by over 150 points as they have amassed a total of 671 points after three days of competition, while the women stand in second place with 477 points, just 11 points behind meet-leading Boston University.

The Retrievers saw three new school records, four new Stanley M. Wallace pool records, and one new America East Championship record set on Saturday night in Orono, Maine, while they crowned a total of five conference champions.

Junior Tina Cantwell (Sinking Spring, Pa./The Hill School) led the way on the women’s side, as she claimed the 100 breaststroke in a school and pool record time of 1:03.58 and was also part of the school, pool, and America East Championship record-setting 400 medley relay.

Cantwell’s time was just three one-hundredths of a second shy of the NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:03.55 and bettered the previous UMBC record of 1:03.69, which was set by Lindsey Prather in 2001.

Cantwell then teamed with sophomore Tereza Kaplanova (Prague, Czech Republic/J.G. Jarkovskeho), junior Daniele Surkovich (Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake), and senior Lindsey Engler (Salisbury, Md./James M. Bennett) to set a new school, pool, and America East Championship record in the 400 medley relay as they turned in a winning time of 3:49.11.

Their time bettered the previous school record of 3:49.49 which was set by Agnes Stanislawska, Cantwell, Surkovich, and Meghan Sackett at last year’s George Mason Patriot Invitational and the conference mark of 3:49.26, which was set by New Hampshire in 2006.

Surkovich also finished third in the 200 freestyle, turning in a time of 1:51.14, while freshman Sarah Ryan (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Oceanside) was eighth in 1:54.50.

Kaplanova and freshman Rebecca Godwin (Catonsville, Md./Notre Dame Prep) each finished sixth in their respective events as Kaplanova turned in a time of 1:00.16 in the 100 backstroke and Godwin swam a time of 4:36.19 in the 400 individual medley.

The only other finalists on the women’s side were sophomore Lindsay Sherman (Bethany, Conn./Amity), freshman Gaby Johnston (Windsor, Conn./Loomis Chaffee), and sophomore Kate Chialastri (Flourtown, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) who finished fifth, sixth and seventh in the 100 butterfly with times of 58.21, 58.58, and 58.65, respectively.

On the men’s side, junior Justin Bronson (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/Msgr. Paul Dwyer) led the way as he set a new school and pool record in the 200 freestyle as he claimed gold with a time of 1:38.65 and was part of the silver medal-winning 400 medley relay.

Bronson’s time eclipsed the previous UMBC record of 1:38.72, which was set by Evan Patrick in 2001 as well as the pool record of 1:38.85, which was set by Olympian Ian Crocker.

Bronson was the leader for a pack of Retrievers as junior Freddie Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard), freshmen Eric Jones (Gambrills, Md./Arundel) and Keilan Freeman (Calgary, Alberta, Canada/Argyll Centre), and junior P.J. Sterba (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) finished fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth, respectively with times of 1:42.32, 1:42.48, 1:43.52, and 1:44.29.

Bronson then anchored the 400 medley relay team of sophomore Rasmus Kutt (Tallinn, Estonia/Gustav Adolf Gymnazium), senior Scott Auchter (Wernersville, Pa./Wilson), and freshman Brad Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) which turned in a time of 3:24.65 to take silver.

Kutt and Reitz were also individual winners previously in the night’s competition as Reitz claimed the 100 butterfly with a time of 49.79, while Kutt swam a time of 50.26 to set a new pool record and earn the gold medal.

Kutt led a 1-2 sweep for the Retrievers as junior Milos Djukic (Novi Sad, Serbia/Svetozar Markovic) was second in 51.05, while senior Eric Skrabacz also placed sixth in 53.04.

Reitz also led a host of Retriever swimmers, as sophomore Matt Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Delran), junior Sven Schneider (Tallinn, Estonia/Tallinn German Gymnazium), Sterba, and sophomore Zach Vonder Haar placed third, fourth, fifth, and seventh in the event, respectively, with times of 50.75, 51.16, 51.41, and 51.57.

Auchter and Mattingly rounded out the top performances for the Retrievers in the pool as they placed third and fifth in the 100 breaststroke with times of 57.90 and 58.95, respectively.

On the boards, freshmen Seth McNew (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) and Chris Cheng (Raleigh, N.C./Enloe) finished fifth and eighth on the 3-meter with scores of 236.70 and 226.20.

The Retrievers conclude competition at the America East Championships on Sunday with preliminaries scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. and the finals session at 5:30 p.m.