AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, February 13 – Sunday, February 16
- WPI Sports and Recreation Center, Worcester, MA (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: UMBC Men (4x) & UMBC Women (1x) (results)
- Results (Day 3)
- Day 1 Recap|Day 2 Recap
- Live Video
- Championship Central
The 2020 America East Championships continued tonight with finals of the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, and 400 medley relay. The UMBC men are on track to defend their title, while New Hampshire currently leads 2019 champ UMBC on the women’s side.
New Hampshire’s Anna Metzler put up another Meet Record, this time winning the 400 IM in 4:11.56. That was a best time by nearly 2 seconds and cleared the old Meet Record by over a second. It’s also her 2nd win of the meet after she set the 500 free Meet Record on Friday. Metzler is about a second and a half away from what it took to make NCAAs in 2019. Behind her, teammate Corrinne Carbone took silver in 4:13.48. Carbone was the champion in this event last season.
Freshman teammate Jamy Lum, who finished 2nd behind Metzler in the 500 free, won the 100 breast in 1:01.39. Lum dropped a full second from her former best. That time is a new UNH Freshman Record and is just 4 tenths away from the New Hampshire School Record.
Stony Brook’s Michelle Liberman was within 3 hundredths of her lifetime best to win the 100 fly in 54.24. That was her fastest since she swam her best in 2017. Liberman also finished 4th in the 100 back (56.62). New Hampshire’s Melissa Dingle repeated as champion there in 55.58.
Dingle had set her lifetime best 54.61 in prelims, and again swam a lifetime best shortly after the 100 back final with a 54.54 on New Hampshire’s winning 400 medley relay. Her leadoff was just a couple of tenths away from the America East Record. Lum took on the breast leg in 1:01.54, while Metzler swam a 54.00 on the fly. Carbone anchored in 50.64 as the team took down the America East Record in 3:40.74.
On the men’s side, Binghamton’s Ryan Board set a Meet Record. Board, the 2019 bronze medalist, won the 100 breast in 54.97, knocking over a second off his time in his first swim under 56. He was just 2 tenths away from the Pool Record and is now within tenths of the America East Record. The Bearcats also nabbed a win on the women’s side. Kaitlyn Smolar surged through the final 50 to distance herself from New Hampshire freshman Audrey Tirrell, winning 1:51.51 to 1:51.93 for a lifetime best in the 200 free.
UMBC’s Kai Wisner, who won the 500 free on night 1, picked up another win in the 400 IM. Wisner won the race in 3:54.81, but he was slightly faster in prelims as he dropped almost 2 seconds with a 3:54.41. He’s now just over a second shy of the 10-year-old America East Record and the back-to-back champion. Teammate Matt Bennici, the 500 free bronze medalist, made a huge drop to take silver. Coming into the meet, his best was a 4:03.15, but he put up a 3:57.92 in the final.
Teammate Ilia Rattsev, the 50 free champion, defended his title in the 200 free. Rattsev swam to a 1:37.34 in the final, but was within a couple of tenths of his best in prelims with a 1:37.13. Another Retriever, Satori Dobbie, broke 49 for the first time in the 100 fly, winning in 48.34. He changed things up this year, as he had swum the 200 free instead last season. That marks his first individual title.
Garrett Wlochowski, the 500 free runner-up for UMBC, picked up the 100 back title in 48.59. He was faster in prelims, though, with a 48.00. Minutes later, Wlochowski led off the winning 400 medley relay (3:15.54) with a 48.34 back split. Luis Galvan swam a 56.27 breast split. Champions Satori (fly- 47.33) and Rattsev (free- 43.51) were the closers.
WOMEN’S SCORES THROUGH DAY 3
- New Hampshire, University of 574
- Umbc Swimming & Diving 517.5
- Binghamton University 365.5
- Vermont, University of 363.5
- Maine, University of, Orono 289
- Stony Brook University 190.5
- Virginia Military Institute 105
MEN’S SCORES THROUGH DAY 3
- Umbc Swimming & Diving 721
- Binghamton University 601
- Maine, University of, Orono 388
- Virginia Military Institute 309
