Led by junior Emily Escobedo, University of Maryland, Baltimore County earned a first place finish at the America East Conference Championships. The school finished with 885.5 points. New Hampshire was in second and Vermont was third. Maine and Binghamton finished fourth and fifth, respectfully.
New Hampshire’s Jess Harper took first place in the 1650-yard freestyle. She posted a time of 16.33.54. Lauren Massicot of Maryland, Baltimore County was second and New Hampshire’s Brittany Moffat touched third.
Linnea Lemerise of New Hampshire touched first in the 200-yard backstroke, posting a time of 2:00.28. Maryland, Baltimore County’s Aleasha Knight touched second over half a second later and Vermont’s Danielle Rochel finished third.
New Hampshire continued its hot start in the 100-yard freestyle. Liza Baykova of the Wildcats touched first in 49.81. She was over half a second ahead of Vermont’s Sarah Mantz, the second place finisher. Maryland, Baltimore County’s Kristie Langford touched third.
In the 200-yard breaststroke, Maryland, Baltimore County’s Escobedo had a monster swim. The junior posted a NCAA qualifying time of 2:06.21, winning by over 12 seconds. Kayla Lilly, her teammate, finished second and New Hampshire’s Bettina Caspers was third.
The Retrievers picked up another 1-2 finish in the 200-yard butterfly. Catherine Frediani touched ahead of teammate Hannah Sutherland with a time of 2:02.66. Binghamton’s Taryn McLaughlin touched in third.
The meet ended with the 400-yard freestyle relay. New Hampshire pulled out the victory with a time of 3:25.40. The Wildcat team consisted of Baykova, Harper, Moffat and Sarah Broderick.
Not too shabby for E- squared — ONLY No. 1 tine nationally for season, surpassing Windiiana’s Lilly King’s 2:06.84 from that scy meet the day after Nationals last December in Federal Way.
‘ Course The Big Tens begin later this week and Indiana coach Ray Looze has been hinting that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if his frosh star became the first woman to break 2:00.0!
Just kidding…but maybe that honor will go to Escobedo.