CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – It was a busy week for America East swimming and diving squads as all but one team was in action.
UMBC continued its strong season in the pool with three more weekly award recipients while a Maine diver picks up her third weekly award of the season. The Retrievers’ Mohamed Hussein (Cairo, Egypt/Victory College) and Abbey McKenney (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) collect Male and Female Swimmer of the Week nods to go along with Andrew Eckhoff’s (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) fifth Male Diver of the Week honor this season. The Black Bears’ Kara Capossela (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) is the Female Diver of the Week.
Swimming in only his second meet as a Retriever, Hussein racked up three individual wins and led off for the victorious 200 medley relay team. He swept the backstroke events, winning the 100 in (51.97) followed by the 200 (1:51.94) before finishing his day claiming first in the 200 IM (1:53.53).
McKenney nabs her third swimmer of the week award after picking up her sixth individual victory of the season winning the 100 freestyle in 52.54. In addition, she anchored both the 200 medley (1:47.58) and 400 freestyle (3:32.92) relays to wins. The senior has anchored four 200 medley relays wins this season.
Eckhoff registered the highest score in the three-meter dive against Towson and Loyola (Md.) with 296.25 points. He also finished second in the one-meter board with a score of 304.70. Eckhoff currently holds the conference’s best scores in both events.
Capossela picked up two wins for Maine over the weekend in a non-scoring meet against Bowdoin. She came away victorious in the one-meter competition with a score of 221.47 and in the three-meter notching 240.82 points.
Binghamton’s swimming and diving teams earned a split with St. Bonaventure over the weekend in Vestal. The women earned a 166-119 victory while the men were dealt a 166-133 loss. Four different Bearcat women earned a pair of victories led by freshman Caitlin Kelly (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) who touched the wall first in both the 50 (24.71) and 100 (53.96) freestyle events. Kelly also swam a leg for the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams which were also victorious. Sophomore Lauren Flower (Yonkers, N.Y./Ursuline School) won the 200 (1:59.37) and 500 (5:14.76) freestyles while Shannon Lampe (East Setauket/Ward Melville) took first in the 100 back (1:00.65) and 100 fly (59.77). On the boards, Imani Williams (Syracuse, N.Y./Thomas-Corcoran) swept the diving events with scores of 221.85 in the one-meter and 232.43 in the three-meter. On the men’s side, all-conference swimmers Nolan Slesnick (Austin, Texas/LBJ-LASA) and Josh Saccurato (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) both swam to a pair of first-place finishes. Slesnick won the distance freestyle events claiming the top spot in the 500 in 4:39.57 and the 1,000 in 9:36.18. Saccurato was first to touch in the 200 breaststroke (2:13.21) and the 200 IM (1:56.52). Binghamton is off next week before hosting America East foe Stony Brook in its final dual meet of the season on Feb. 4.
Boston University hosts Brown and Columbia this weekend.
Maine competed in a non-scoring meet against Bowdoin College over the weekend. Senior Lauren Thornbrough (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo) led the women’s team with a pair of wins and a third-place finish. She won the 400 IM with a time of 4:47.27 and also placed first in the 100 fly at 1:00.54. Naja Harvey (Orono, Minn.) also had a pair of wins for the Black Bears as she took top honors in both the 50 breaststroke (31.10) and the 200 freestyle (1:59.08). On the men’s side, Robbie Bickford won the 200 IM with a time of 2:06.41 while Brian Landry (Yorktown, Va.) won the 1,000 freestyle in 10:31.10. On the boards for Maine, Kara Capossela (Greenwich, Conn.) swept the women’s events, scoring 221.47 points in the one-meter and 240.82 points in the three-meter. Travis Wibby (South Portland, Maine) took first in the one-meter notching a score of 239.47. Next up for Maine is a dual meet with Boston College in Orono on Jan. 27.
On Senior/Alumni Day, UMBC hosted local rivals Loyola and Towson. The men swept the Greyhounds and Tigers, 167-122 and 171-114. The women split, defeating Loyola, 235-65, but falling to Towson, 164-136. The men were led by junior Mohamed Hussein (Cairo, Egypt/Victory College) who picked up three individual wins, in addition to swimming a leg on the victorious 200 medley relay team. Hussein swept the backstroke events before winning the 200 IM (1:53.53), as well. Senior John Mendenhall (Cherry Hill, N.J./Chery Hill East) won both the 100 (59.42) and 200 (2:08.76) breaststroke events. Andrew Eckhoff (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) won his sixth diving event of the season, claiming the three-meter competition (296.25). For the women, Abbey McKenney (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) led the way, claiming victory in the 100 free (52.54) and anchoring the 200 medley and 400 free relay teams to wins. Ashley Miller (New Smyrna Beach, Fla./New Smyrna Beach) won the 50 free (24.39) before leading off the 400 free relay. The Retrievers have the week off before heading to Philadelphia, Pa. to take on Penn and LaSalle on Feb. 4.
New Hampshire fell in its lone meet last week, dropping a 199-98 decision to Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon. Jessica Little (Barrie, Ontario/Barrie Central Collegiate Institute) and Shelli Reed (Hollister, Calif./San Benito) both collected first-place finishes to lead the Wildcats. Little took the top spot in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:25.96 while Reed touched first in the 50 freestyle in 24.53. Jenna Bull (Woodstock, New Brunswick/Harbord Collegiate Institute) and Katie Mann (Prince George, B.C.) took the top spots in the 200 IM, clocking in at 2:10.28 and 2:10.48, respectively. The Wildcats are back in action when they take on Maine on Feb. 3.
The Stony Brook swimming and diving teams swept Bryant on Saturday in the final meet at Pritchard Pool, which will be closing in the fall for renovations. The women’s team earned a 156-106 win while the men won 157-105. Senior Daniel Kim (Douglaston, N.Y./Benjamin Cardozo) won three individual events for the Seawolves, taking first in the 200 fly, the 200 back and set a new season-best time in the 1,000 free (10:04.87). Sean Conway (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) also picked up a pair of victories in the 100 and 200 freestyles. For the women, Darcy Heuser (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) and Taylor Crosby (Port Monmouth, N.J./Middletown) each collected two wins for the Seawolves. Hueser claimed the top spot in the 500 and 1,000 freestyles, setting a new season-best time of 10:44.74 in the latter. Crosby earned first-place finishes in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 IM. The Seawolves wrap up the season at Binghamton on Feb. 4, before traveling to Boston for the America East Championship meet.
Vermont fell at home on Saturday against Northeastern 184-116. Prior to the meet, Vermont’s 12 seniors were honored before taking part in their final home meet. Four Catamounts earned victories on the day led by senior Lauren Colby (Andover, Mass./Andover) who won the three-meter dive with a score of 256.12. Junior Kailey Gardner (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) took first in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 17:34.13, while a pair of freshmen also earned first-place finishes. Ilsa Feierabend (Madison, Wis./Madison West) won the 100 backstroke (1:01.00) and classmate Laura Stephens (West Chester, Pa./Unionville) was victorious in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.90). Vermont returns to action on Saturday when it travels to face Rhode Island starting at 12 p.m.
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