BOYDS, Md. -- With two days of competition at the 2011 America East Swimming and Diving Championship at the Germantown Indoor Swim Center, both the Boston University men's and women's teams hold the top spots in their respective championship hunts.
The Boston U. men entered the day just seven points behind then-leader UMBC. However, with a win in the 200 free relay and a one-two finish in the 50-yard freestyle, the Terriers took first place with a total of 304 points. UMBC, which also grabbed a pair of golds on the day, sits in second place with 288, followed by Binghamton University in third place with 258 points. University of Maine and has 118 points in fourth place while Stony Brook University rounds out the field with 116 points.
The Boston U. 200 free relay team of junior Justin Gilmartin, senior Matthew Rickett, and juniors Jackson Hill and Daniel Kempf finished in a time of 1:22.70, nearly three seconds ahead of the second-place Binghamton squad (1:25.65). The Terriers also fared well in the 50 free, with Kempf and Rickett finishing one-two with times of 20.47 and 20.57, respectively.
UMBC took first-place in the day's other two championship finals. Sophomore Pierre De Waal ran away with the 500 free title, posting a time of 4:27.08, 3.81 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. In the 200 IM, senior Brad Reitz took home a win with a finals time of 1:48.54. Reitz's time of 1:48.35 in the preliminaries broke the America East Conference record.
On the women's side, Boston U. took over first place with a total of 262 points, just 11 points ahead of UMBC, which sits in second place with 251 points. University of New Hampshire, the leader after Day One, slipped to third place with 229 points. Binghamton finished the day with 156 points, good for fourth place, while University of Vermont (141 points), Stony Brook (114) and Maine (109) round out the women's field.
Boston U. was led by a trio of divers who grabbed the top three spots on the women's three-meter boards. Sophomore Melinda Matyas, the 2010 America East champion in the event, again finished first with a 12-dive score of 602.05, including a score of 307.60 over her final six dives. Freshman Chelsea Glincman finished in second-place with a total score of 495.60 and senior Sarah Colton finished third with a score of 482.75.
UMBC earned wins in three events on Day Two. Sophomore Amy Fay kicked off the evening session with a win in the 500 free, posting a time of 4:51.62. In the 50 free, junior Abbey McKenney finished with a time of 23.25, just ahead of Boston U. senior Maria McIntyre, who took second with a time of 23.26. The Retriever women closed out the day with a win in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:34.85, edging the second-place Terriers by .02 seconds.
New Hampshire senior Amy Perrault took the remaining race, finishing the 200 IM in a meet-record 2:01.99.
The 2011 America East Championship continues from the Germantown Indoor Swim Center in Boyds, Md., with preliminary swims at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning.