Navy Sweeps UMBC (M:137-101; W:123-119)

BALTIMORE, Maryland, October 27. THE Navy swimming and diving teams took to the road for the first time this season and recorded victories over UMBC Saturday afternoon in Baltimore. The Navy women's team posted a 123-119 victory, while the Navy men won a 137-101 decision. Both Navy squads improved to 5-0 on their respective seasons with the victory.

The two Navy programs won their respective 2007 Patriot League team titles and were both tabbed to win conference crowns again this year. UMBC, meanwhile, swept the two 2007 America East champions meets and were named as the favorite to repeat as champions again this year.

The Navy women's team rallied from an early 12-point deficit and won the meet during the final event, the 400 freestyle relay.

After the Mids won the meet-opening 400 medley relay by three seconds, UMBC took a 20-16 lead following the second event, the 1000 freestyle, when Rebecca Godwin won the race for the Retrievers and her teammates also placed third and fourth. Tara Chapmon (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) promptly won the 200 freestyle (1:54.06) for Navy to slice the deficit down to 29-26, but UMBC swimmers placed first, third and fourth in the 50 freestyle to extend its lead to 43-31.

Navy athletes then won the next four events as the Mids rallied to take a 76-74 advantage following the eighth event of the day. Kelly Zahalka (Jr., Richmond, Va.) started the Navy run by clocking a 2:07.94 to win the 200 individual medley by nearly four seconds, Katie Griffin (Sr., Ellicott City, Md.) followed by posting a score of 276.53 to win the one-meter diving event by 50 points, Mallory Dietrich (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) won the 200 fly in a time of 2:09.85, and Sarah Dorenkott (So., Hudson, Ohio) capped the Navy rally by winning the 100 free in a time of 52.74.

The teams traded wins in the next two events — UMBC's Tereza Kaplanova won the 200 back (2:09.25), Navy's Chapmon won the 500 free (5:01.34) — and the squads were tied at 94-94 with just three events remaining.

Griffin came through again for Navy by winning the three-meter diving event (3:07.43), with teammate Desiree' Robison (Jr., Tucson, Ariz.) recording a key second-place finish in the event to give Navy an 107-99 lead. That eight-point cushion would quickly evaporate as UMBC swimmers placed first, second and third in the 200 breaststroke to give the Retrievers an 115-110 advantage heading into the 400 free relay.

The scenarios heading into the relay were as follows: UMBC would win the meet if it won the race and placed either second or third; Navy would win if it won the event and placed either second or third; the event would end in a tie if Navy won the event and UMBC placed both second and third.

Navy's team of Thuy-Mi Dinh (So., Anaheim, Calif.), Allison Ranzau (Fr., Alpharetta, Ga.), Chapmon and Dorenkott won the event with a time of 3:33.00, but UMBC's top relay team followed three seconds later in second place. The Mids then secured the victory as the foursome of Dietrich, Kristin Lowd (Sr., High Point, N.C.), Heather Klein (Fr., Chicago., Ill.) and Tessa Snow (Fr., Hamlin, N.Y.) placed third (by four seconds) with a time of 3:42.76.

"I am very pleased with the win," sand Navy women's swimming head coach John Morrison. "I told the girls at the start of the day that they needed to compete through the final event of because it was going to come down to that last race. I am pleased with the effort and the fight they displayed. We had a lot of great swims and our divers played a big role in today's outcome."

In contrast to the narrow margin of the women's meet, the Navy men's team tallied victories in eight of the opening 11 events to slowly separate itself from UMBC on the way to the victory.

UMBC won the opening 400 medley relay race, then Navy's Erik Hunter (Fr., Placerville, Calif.) and Sam Martinette (Fr., Richmond, Va.) placed first and second, respectively, in the 1000 free with times of 9:28.57 and 9:41.56. UMBC's Justin Bronson would edge Navy's Christopher Jenkins (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) by 1.3 seconds in the 200 free, but Alex Oldenkamp (Jr., Coppell, Texas) answered with a win for the Mids in the 50 free with a time of 21.83.

Navy held a slim 40-34 lead after the 50 free, but broke open the meet by having its athletes place first, second and third in the 200 IM and one-meter diving, first, second and fifth in the 200 fly and first, third and fourth in the 100 free to take a commanding 100-50 advantage after eight events.

Adam Meyer (So., Bethesda, Md.) won the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:54.04, with teammates Billy Vey (Jr., Huntersville, N.C.) and Patrick Veltman (Fr., Midlothian, Va.) following in second and third place, respectively. Olaf Olson (Fr., Bainbridge Island, Wash.) won the first of the two diving events with a score of 288.90, with Adam Niekras (Sr., Liverpool, N.Y.) finishing in second place and Jon Galinski (Jr., Phoenix, Md.) taking third. Meyer (1:53.00) and Veltman (1:57.24) would place first and second in the 200 fly, which was followed by Aaron Aiken (Fr., Ocala, Fla.) winning the 100 free in a time of 47.23. Oldenkamp tallied a third-place finish in the 100 free event, with Jenkins placing fourth to end the Navy run.

Hunter and Olson soon recorded their second victories of the day, as Hunter won the 500 free and Olson improved to 10-0 on the year with a win in the three-meter springboard, to secure the victory for the Mids.

The final individual event of the meet saw Meyer post a time of 2:09.72 to pick up his third win of the afternoon.

"This was a really good victory for the team," said Navy men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts. "I was pleased with the way we competed in our first road meet of the year."

The Navy women's team will continue its season Nov. 3 by competing in a double-dual meet against Colgate and Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa., while the Navy men will not compete until the following week when the two programs play host to American, Bucknell and Lafayette

Special thanks to Navy for contributing this report.

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