American East Conference

New Hampshire Women, UMBC Men Win 2018 #AESD Championships

2/18/2018 11:23:51 PM

Worcester, Mass. – Records tumbled on the final day of competition as UMBC and New Hampshire won 2018 America East Swimming and Diving Championships. The women’s championship ultimately came down to the final event as the Wildcats clawed out a 4.5-point lead over UMBC to win the title. It is their first championship since 2014 and seventh overall, which ties the conference record previously held by Boston University.
 
Back in the conference the first time since 2013, UMBC picked up where they left off, winning their 10^th league title. The Retrievers had won three consecutive titles in the CCSA before rejoining the America East prior to the 2017-18 season. Their 1113 total points are the most by a men’s team in a conference championship.
 
Liza Baykova was named Most Outstanding Swimmer and also earned the Dave Alexander Coaches’ Award. The New Hampshire senior now holds meet records in all of the freestyle sprints, setting the third and final benchmark in the 100-yard freestyle.
 
Another senior Wildcat, Hailee Miller, earned an award for her performance over the course of the weekend. Miller won the women’s 1-meter diving and was named Most Outstanding Diver.
 
The Most Outstanding Rookie was UMBC’s Natalija Marin who earned first-place finishes in the women’s 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly. The men's award was given to UMBC swimmer Kai Wisner, who finished second in the 1650 freestyle on Sunday with a faster time than the prior meet record.
 
UMBC sophomore Ilia Rattsev swept the three men’s freestyle sprints and was honored as the Most Outstanding Swimmer.
 
Freshman David Walters won the men’s 1-meter diving and also earned a bronze medal in the 3-meter. He is the first ever Binghamton student-athlete to be named Most Outstanding Diver.
 
The Coaches’ Award was handed to UMBC senior Nikola Trajkovic for accruing the most points over the course of the meet.
 
UMBC’s Connor Ganley and Allison Atkinson received the Elite 18 Award. Ganley holds a 3.96 GPA in chemical engineering while Atkinson has a 3.88 GPA in biological sciences.
 
Full Results | Highlights
 
2018 America East Swimming & Diving Championships
Final Team Standings
Women

1. New Hampshire (794 points)
2. UMBC (789.5)
3. Vermont (652)
4. Binghamton (485.5)
5. Maine (402)
6. VMI (134)

 
Men

1. UMBC (1113 points)
2. Binghamton (817.5)
3. Maine (576.5)
4. VMI (358)

 
Day 4 Highlights

• Liza Baykova is now the record-holder in all three freestyle sprints. After breaking a seven year-old record in the prelims, the New Hampshire senior finished her individual events with a time of 49.58 in the 100 free.
• Binghamton earned the top two scores in the men’s 1-meter diving, with freshman David Walters wearing gold after receiving a total score of 277.05 points.
• In the men’s 1650-yard freestyle, UMBC junior Haythem Abdelkhalek broke the previous meet record by 10 seconds. His 15:21.41 time in the finals was the fastest since 2006.
• Both records in the 200-yard backstroke were broken by a pair of UMBC swimmers. Sophomore Emily Vance swam a 1:57.61, the fastest time in the women’s 200 back since 2011. Junior Alexander Gliese’s time of 1:45.27 broke the men’s record which was held by former Olympian Mohamed Hussein.
• Luis Galvan Cardenas set a second meet record in the 200 breaststroke, touching the wall in a time of 1:58.77.
• UMBC sophomore Ilia Rattsev completed the sweep of the freestyle sprints with a gold-medal time of 43.92 in the men’s 100 free.
• In the final events of the weekend, the Vermont women won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:24.77 and the UMBC men clocked in at 3:00.40.