CAMBRIDGE, Mass.— America East swimming and diving squads returned to the pool this weekend opening the new season with some impressive performances. UMBC swept the male weekly awards with Johan Rohtla (Tallinn, Estonia/Tallin Secondary Science) grabbing Swimmer of the Week accolades and junior teammate Andrew Eckhoff (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) getting the Diver of the Week nod. Vermont’s Claudia Etherington (Perth, Australia/St. Hilda’s) takes female Swimmer of the Week honors and Stony Brook’s Jodie Darnell (Rocklin, Calif./Whitney) earns Diver of the Week status.
Rohtla swept the backstroke events at UMBC’s season-opening meet against Bucknell on Oct. 1. He won the 100 back in 52.43 before taking the 200 back in 1:52.44. In addition, he was part of UMBC’s winning 400 free relay team.
Eckhoff recorded 315.75 points in the three-meter dive, which was less than three points off a Retriever record. The junior also won the one-meter dive event scoring 284.5 points.
Etherington led Vermont to a 3-0 start by winning three individual events and also was a member of a winning relay team in the season-opening meet at Army. She swept the two backstroke events winning the 100-yard variety in 57.55 and setting a new Army pool record in the 200-yard back with a time of 2:02.05. The sophomore also won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:55.68 and swam on the relay team that captured first place in the 200-medley relay.
Darnell competed in her first meet as a Seawolf after transferring from Sierra College and placed first in the three-meter dive at Army. She registered a score of 204.20 to top the competition.
Binghamton began its season at the Western New York Invitational for the fourth consecutive season. Headlining the Bearcats’ day were junior Josh Saccurato (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) for the men and Stephanie Lindahl (Merrick, N.Y./Sandford H. Calhoun) for the women. Saccurato won the 400 IM with a time of 4:11.06, while Lindahl won her first collegiate race in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:53.28. Saccurato added to his impressive day with a pair of third-place finishes in the 200 IM and the 100 breast. Several other freshman swimmers also turned in top-10 performances including Caitlin Kelly (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) and Karina Hain (Maspeth, N.Y./Townsend Harris) who each finished fourth in the 50 free and 400 IM, respectively.
Boston U. opens its season this weekend with a meet against Houston on Oct. 14 before traveling to UMass for a meet the following day.
Maine has a bit more time before hopping into the pool for its first meet. The Black Bears head to Connecticut for the Husky Invitational on Oct. 22.
UMBC opened its season with a non-scored meet at Bucknell on Oct. 1 and won 21 of 44 events. Junior Jennifer Kotonias (Burtonsville, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) swept the three women’s individual medley events, while sophomore Talor Tadena (Orangevale, Calif./Bella Vista) won all three women’s breaststroke events. In addition, Abbey McKenney (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) and Johan Rohtla swept the backstroke events for their respective teams. Andrew Eckhoff also won both men’s diving events. Other individual winners for the men included Pierre De Waal (Pretoria, South Africa/Tuks Sport/Cleveland State) in the 200 fly, Lauri Kaei (Harjurmaa, Estonia/Tallinn Secondary Science) in the 200 free and Charlie Melesh (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis/Pfeiffer) in the 1,000 free. On the women’s side, Kathryn Moorby (Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May Regional) won the 50 fly, Tara Morrissette (Somersworth, N.H./St. Thomas Aquinas) took the 200 fly and Ashley Sippel (Rockville, Md./Thomas Wooton) won the 200 free. UMBC returns to the pool on Saturday at Rider.
Stony Brook opened the season in West Point, N.Y. against Army, Boston College and fellow America East foe Vermont. The Seawolf women placed fourth dropping decisions to the three other squads, while the men finished third in their tri-meet. For the women, Allison Zelnick (Troy, Ohio/Ohio) touched first in the 100 freestyle and also helped the 200 medley relay team take third. Jodie Darnell placed first in the three-meter dive and freshman Elizabeth Beckett (Swindon, England) also registered a first-place finish in the 200 breast. The men were led by a pair of second-place finishes from senior Sean Conway (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) in the 50 and 200 freestyles. Rookie diver Kyle Gannon (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) placed third in the three-meter dive. Stony Brook is next in action against St. Francis (N.Y.) on Oct. 15.
Vermont opened the 2011-12 season on Friday by sweeping a four-team meet hosted by Army. Claudia Etherington and junior Kailey Gardner (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) paced UVM with three individual victories each, as the Catamounts opened the meet by winning the first five events. Gardner, who also won three events at the same meet last season, won the two distance events by finishing first in the 500 free (5:08.21) and 1,000 free (10:25.12). She would add a win in the 200 IM in a time of 2:12.53. Vermont has now defeated Stony Brook in each of the last six years, Army in four straight seasons and Boston College in three straight. The Cats return to action on Oct. 22 when they travel to take part in the Husky Invitational hosted by Connecticut.