East Carolina v. University of Maryland Baltimore County

BALTIMORE, Maryland, January 19. THE UMBC swimming and diving teams split their final home meet of the 2007-08 season against East Carolina on Senior/Alumni Day, at the UMBC Natatorium. The Retriever men (5-1) bested the Pirates (5-2) by a score of 179-119, while the Retriever women (3-4) fell to the Pirates (7-0) by a score of 168-130.

Junior Justin Bronson (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/Msgr. Paul Dwyer) led all swimmers as he tallied four victories on the day, in the 100, 200, and 500 freestyle events as well as part of the 400 freestyle relay.

Bronson captured his seventh straight victory in the 200 free with a time of 1:41.76 and is undefeated for the 2007-08 season in the event. He also won the 100 and 500 freestyles with times of 47.33 and 4:40.49, respectively, then led off the winning 400 free relay with sophomore Zach Vonder Haar (Gahanna, Ohio/Columbus Academy), junior Sven Schneider (Tallinn, Estonia/Tallinn German Gymnazium) and sophomore Matt Mattingly (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) that swam a time of 3:10.21.

Freshman Brad Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) added three victories for the Retrievers as he won the 100 and 200 butterfly events with times of 51.31 and 1:54.16, respectively. Reitz is undefeated in the 100 fly this season and notched his sixth consecutive victory on Saturday. The freshman also teamed with Schneider, senior Scott Auchter (Wernersville, Pa./Wilson), and Vonder Haar to win the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:34.92.

Auchter added an individual victory during his last meet in the UMBC Natatorium as he swam a time of 59.61 to win the 100 breaststroke, while sophomore Rasmus Kutt (Tallinn, Estonia/Gustav Adolf Gymnazium) tallied a victory in the 100 backstroke in a time of 52.05 and remains undefeated in the 200 back as he added his eighth straight victory leading a Retriever sweep with a time of 1:53.82.

The only other winners on the menâ€™s side were junior Freddie Reitz (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) who won the 200 breast in 2:11.04 and freshman Seth McNew (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood), who was victorious in the 3-meter diving as he tallied a total score of 229.28.

On the womenâ€™s side, junior Tina Cantwell (Sinking Spring, Pa./The Hill School) and freshman Rebecca Godwin (Catonsville, Md./Notre Dame Prep) added two victories apiece for the Retrievers. Cantwell remains undefeated in the 200 breast as she added her ninth straight win this season as she swam a time of 2:21.25. Cantwell also extended her unbeaten streak to 17 consecutive meets overall, as she has not lost the event since placing second to Navy on Oct. 28, 2006 and also added a victory in the 100 breast with a time of 1:05.60.

Godwin picked up victories in both distance events as she turned in times of 5:07.83 and 10:21.85 in the 500 and 1000 freestyles, respectively.

The only other winner on the womenâ€™s side was junior Daniele Surkovich (Ellicott City, Md./Wilde Lake) who posted a time of 1:52.91 to win the 200 freestyle.

Special thanks to UMBC for contributing this report.

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