The College of William and Mary and the University of Maryland — Baltimore County Retrievers traded opening cheers on the crowded pool deck at the Student Recreation Center Pool Saturday afternoon. The Tribe responded to the Retrievers’s single-word chant, filing in with a thunderous roar, which included slapping kickboards and banging on the Rec Center walls, to fire themselves up for the meet.
The Tribe women’s performance in the pool lived up to the intensity of that opening cheer, continuing its dominant stretch with an easy 181-115 victory.
Their male counterparts did not fare as well, falling short against a UMBC squad that has won 11 straight conference titles in the America East, 173-123.
Junior Katie Radloff led the way for the Tribe women, sweeping all three of her individual events and anchoring the 400-yard medley relay to a full body length win. Her times in the 50-yd and 100-yd freestyle set Rec Center pool records.
“This was definitely my best in-season meet,” Radloff said. “Although I didn’t really feel that great, I swam really well. I think it was mostly the competition. I didn’t want to lose.”
She mentioned also that the team’s overall performance was stronger than in recent weeks.
“We’ve had some struggles swimming fast recently, so it was a huge improvement.”
Several of Radloff’s teammates made major contributions to the College’s victory including senior Marina Falcone, who dominated the long distance freestyle events, and freshman Hailey Hewitt, who won three individual events — the 200-yd backstroke, the 100-yd butterfly and the 200-yd individual medley — to put her at 26 individual victories this season.
Although UMBC swept the College men in several events, the Tribe did have a few bright spots. Senior Shawn Matthews came from behind to out-touch freshman Jake Maloy in the 100-yd backstroke. The Tribe men also fared well in the 100-yd breaststroke when senior Jason Brisson and freshman Derek Bui took first and second, respectively. Bui later cruised ahead of the competition to secure a victory in the 200-yd breaststroke.
The Tribe finishes its regular season against East Carolina University Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Rec Center.
