BOYDS, Md.--After dropping to second place through the second day of the 2011 America East Swimming and Diving Championship, the UMBC men's and women's teams stormed into their respective top spots with 27 events completed and one day remaining.
The UMBC finished the evening with 606 points, 26 points ahead of Boston University, which sits in second with 580 points. Binghamton University remained in third, racking up 496 points. Stony Brook University finished the day with 238 points in fourth place, just ahead of fifth-place University of Maine, which has 230 points.
The Retriever men dominated the 200 freestyle championship final, taking four of the top five spots. Senior Eric Jones grabbed the gold in the event with a time of 1:37.57 while sophomore Pierre De Waal, senior Keilan Freeman and junior Mark Garbowski placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively. In that one race, UMBC picked up 65 points.
Boston U. took three individual golds on the evening, with senior Matthew Rickett winning the 100 butterfly, senior Kyle Ernst taking the top spot in the 100 breaststroke and senior Tanner Knorr grabbing a win in the three-meter dive. The Terriers then closed out the night with a win in the 400 medley relay.
Binghamton earned its first wins of the championship. Junior Nolan Slesnick took gold in the 400 individual medley, posting a time of 3:56.28 while junior Joe Perez-Rogers took the top spot in the 100 backstroke in an America East Conference record time of 49.07.
On the women's side, UMBC overtook Boston U. for the overall lead, finishing the night with 520 points while Boston U. posted 424 points. University of New Hampshire checked in at third with 387 points while University of Vermont put up 283 points for fourth place. Binghamton (262 points), Stony Brook (212) and Maine (163), round out the women's field.
UMBC sophomore Jennifer Kotonias won the gold in the 400 IM while junior teammate Abbey McKenney won the 200 freestyle to put the Retriever women at the head of the pack.
The women's results were dotted with broken records. The New Hampshire women set a meet record in the 400 medley relay, posting a time of 3:43.89. In that race, Wildcat senior Amy Perrault led off the relay with a meet-record time of 54.34 in the 100 backstroke. In the 100 breaststroke, New Hampshire senior Allison Nahin posted a meet-record time of 1:02.48.
The 2011 America East Swimming and Diving Championship concludes tomorrow from the Germantown Indoor Swim Center on Sunday.