CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- America East Swimming and Diving teams competed in several postseason competitions, including the 2008 ECAC Open Championships at the University of Pittsburgh, the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships in Buffalo, N.Y., the 2008 NCAA Diving Championships in Columbus, Ohio, and the Speedo Championship Series Eastern Zone South Region meet at the University of Maryland. Justin Bronson and Mat Carson of the UMBC men’s swimming team will compete for their home country of Canada this week at the 2008 Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials and a third Retriever, Tina Cantwell of the women’s swimming team, will compete at the USA Olympic Trials from June 29-July 6.
Binghamton
Binghamton University’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams competed at the 2008 ECAC Open Championships at the University of Pittsburgh’s Tree Pool. The Bearcat men finished in 10th place out of 26 scoring teams with 134 points, while the women took 15th of 28 with 95 points. Senior Matt Russo (Manhattan, N.Y./Stuyvesant) had a pair of top-eight finishes on the diving boards and junior Andrew Palumbo (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) added two top-10 swimming finishes by earning seventh place in the 100 breaststroke (58.08) and 10th place in the 200 breaststroke (2:07.54 ).
Binghamton’s junior male diver Ryan Graham (Vestal, N.Y./ Vestal) finished 22nd in the three-meter and 24th in the one-meter event at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships in Buffalo, N.Y. The third-year diver enjoyed a breakout season setting school records in both the one-meter (318.07) and three-meter events (348.00) en route to becoming the first Binghamton diver to qualify for the NCAA regional event.
Boston University
Junior Andre Watson (Hempstead, N.Y./Rutgers University) had a standout meet at the 2008 NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, finishing fourth-place on the one-meter with 603.50 points ? the best performance by a Boston University male diver in program history. Watson also placed ninth on the 3M with 590.15. Junior Tess Waresmith (Dover, Mass./Miami) qualified for the NCAA championships on the one- and three-meter boards following her performance at the NCAA Zone A Diving tournament. Waresmith earned 585.15 points to place third overall on the 3M and 504.15 points on the 1M in the regional meet.
Waresmith concluded her run in the 2008 NCAA Diving Championships with a 24th-place finish on the three-meter board with 270.65 points. On Thursday, the Dover, Mass., native placed 34th on the one-meter. Waresmith is Boston University’s first diver to qualify for the national championship since 1982, when Chris O'Hagan and Cathy Butler accomplished the feat. Waresmith capped off an impressive first season as a Terrier where she went undefeated on both boards in dual meets and earned five weekly conference honors as the Diver of the Week. In addition, she broke program and pool records on the one- and three-meter boards.
Maine
The University of Maine men’s and women’s swimming teams competed at the ECAC Open Championships at the University of Pittsburgh’s Tree Pool. The women’s team took 11th place overall, while the men’s team placed 24th overall. Junior Colleen Miller (Missoula/Mont.Hellgate) led the way for the Black Bears with a fourth place finish in the 200 IM (2:10.24) and seventh place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:55.27). Courtney Healey (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) swam to an eighth place finish in the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:00.45, while Kerstin Fenton (Dixon, Calif./Dixon) finished sixth in the women’s 200 breaststroke (2:28.82). The relay team of Miller, Caitlin Shelley (Charlottesville, Va./Western Albemarle), Mackenzie Grobmyer (Charlottesville, Va./Albemarle) and Fenton took tenth in the 400 freestyle relay and eighth in the 200 freestyle relay.
UMBC
Junior Tina Cantwell (Sinking Spring, Pa./The Hill School), the 2008 America East Conference champion in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and a member of the conference champion 400-yard medley relay, qualified for the 2008 USA Olympic Trials two weeks ago at the Speedo Championship Series Eastern Zone South Region meet at the University of Maryland. Cantwell finished second overall in the finals, re-qualifying for the US Trials after her prelims swim, with a time of 1:12.02. She also finished third overall in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:36.59. She is currently ranked 78th among USA Olympic Trials qualifiers and will compete on Monday, June 30 in the 100-meter breaststroke at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. This is the first time Cantwell has ever qualified for the Olympic Trials meet, and she is only the second representative of the university to qualify for the USA Olympic Trials in school history.
Junior Justin Bronson (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/Msgr. Paul Dwyer), the 2008 America East champion in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles and a member of the 400- and 800-yard freestyle relays, is entered in four events for the Canadian Olympic Trials ? the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter freestyles and the 100-meter butterfly. As of Monday afternoon, Bronson is seeded 40th in that event as well as 57th in the 200m freestyle, 89th in the 100m freestyle, and 88th in the 100m butterfly. Bronson will be making his second trip to the Canadian Olympic Trials meet, after competing in the 2004 Athens Olympic Trials.
Freshman Mat Carson (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Silverthorn Collegiate Institute), the silver-medalist in the 400-yard individual medley and fourth-place finisher in the 200 IM and the 1650 freestyle at the conference championships, will also be competing in his first Olympic Trials meet and has qualified in four events?the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys and the 100- and 200-meter backstrokes. As of Monday afternoon, Carson is seeded 31st in the 200-meter backstroke, 66th in the 200-meter IM, 35th in the 400-meter IM, and 59th in the 100-meter backstroke.
New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire women’s swimming and diving team, with 323 points, placed fifth at the ECAC Championship. Senior Deanna Petchonka (Ridgefield, Conn./Ridgefield) earned fifth in the 100-yard freestyle (52.91) and fifth in the 100-yard butterfly (57.69). Senior Christine Tartaglia (Brewster, N.Y.) took third place in the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:27.33. She also earned fifth in the 100 breast with a time of 1:07.61. Sophomore Mattie Fowler (Farmington, Maine/Mt. Blue High School) timed in at 4:30.24, just two-tenths of a second in front of Central Connecticut (4:30.44), to grab second in the 400-yard individual medley. She then swam past America East foe Vermont in the 200-yard butterfly to earn a fourth-place finish with a time of 2:04.18. Also placing second in an event was freshman Allison Nahin (Hartland, Wisc./Arrowhead High School) in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.74). The Wildcats’ 400-yard medley relay touched in at 3:32.79 to grab third in the finals. Petchonka, Kiersten Wollenzien (Holland Landing, Ontario/Dr. John M. Denison High School), Nahin, and Amy Perrault (Kirkland Lake, Ontario/Ecole Catholique Jean-Vanier) all were part of the event. Perrault also earned a top-10 finish in the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes, as she placed fourth in the 100 (57.70) and seventh in the 200 event with a time of 2:07.78.
Vermont
The University of Vermont women’s swimming and diving team finished fourth at the ECAC Championships. The Catamounts totaled 345 points in the three-day event, the most among teams from the America East, as Central Connecticut State took the top spot with 425. Head coach Gerry Cournoyer was named Co-Swimming Coach of the Meet, along with Rider’s Steve Fletcher.
The highlight of the final day was the Cats’ 400-freestyle relay team, which won in a new school record time of 3:30.36. The team was made up of sophomore Colleen Clark (Unionville, Conn.), freshman Kate Weaver (South Burlington, Vt.), sophomore Molly MacMillan (Doylestown, Pa.) and junior Rachel Kent (Mystic, Conn.). With the win Vermont swept all three freestyle relays, as the Cats won the 200, 400 and 800 events. The Cats broke a total of six Vermont varsity records and one freshmen record at the meet.
ECAC Results
NCAA Zone A Diving Results 1
NCAA Zone A Diving Results 2
2008 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship Results
Speedo Championship Series Eastern Zone South Region Results
Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials Results