Thanks to Pat McDevitt for leading coverage of the
Heading into the second day of the Centennial Conference Championships, Gettysburg College led the men’s meet while Ursinus College narrowly held the lead in the women’s meet.
Men
The men’s meet started off with Dickinson’s successful defense of the 200 medley relay title. Jason Adams set the pace with a 22.78 backstroke leg and the Red Devil’s never looked back leading the race from start to finish. They were followed closely by a very fast and very young group of Shoremen from Washington College. Greg Lee, a sophomore, helped his team capture silver with a 22.11 butterfly split which put them ahead of top-seeded Gettysburg who grabbed the bronze.
In the 400 IM McDaniel’s Brad Brooks has another fast swim in the books and with that another conference record. His 4:04.87 was good for gold and an NCAA “B” cut. Brooks was challeneged, however, by fellow freshmen Theo Hubbard of Dickinson who was exactly 2 seconds behind in a 4:06.87. Ursinus’ Jacob Robinson was third with a 4:08.96.
Jason Adams was at it again in the 100 fly, adding another “A” cut and breaking his own conference record as he cruised to another gold medal in a 48.64. Greg Lee of Washington grabbed silver and nearly broke the 50 second barrier when he came in at 50.27. Gettysburg freshman Tyler Gould picked up his second bronze of the night in 51.77.
The 200 free proved to be a major point grabber for the Gettysburg men, putting up five swimmers in the top heat of 8. The Bullets grabbed the top two places as Jason Potter and teammate Ashton Leyens touched first at 1:40.62 and 1:40.89, while F&M’s John Zipp crashed the party and boke up the 1-2-3 as he out touched Sean Staerk in a 1:42.01.
Eric Burcin, the stud freshman from Washington College, won his first gold as he out touched defending champ Eddie Barnard from Dickinson. Burcin finished with a time of 58.54 and senior David Yazbeck of Ursinus picked up the bronze.
Adams, just two events removed from his victory in the 100 fly, won the 100 backstroke in a 49.56. He was challenged on the first 50 by Gettysburg’s Mike Harmon, but Adams turned in on off the second turn and finished with over a second separating the two. Adams puts another “A” cut under his belt while Harmon settles for a “B” cut. Gettysburg’s Adam Weinbrom took third with a 53.13.
In the 800 free relay, Gettysburg put its depth in the 200 freestyle event to good use, winning with a new championship meet record. The team of Tyler Gould, Jason Potter, Sean Staerk, and Ashton Leyens defended Gettysburg’s relay title and earned another “B” cut for the Bullets. F&M was not far behind turning in a very impressive 6:54.36 building off of a strong leadoff leg provided by John Zipp. Ursinus grabbed the bronze with a 7:01.28.
200 Medley relay
The ladies from Swarthmore started off the night in impressive fashion, rewriting the centennial conference record books in the 200 medley relay. The team of Becky Teng, Nikkia Miller, Supriya Davis and Kate Wiseman. Ursinus’ relay led after a strong opening leg, but the duo of Davis and Wiseman sealed the gold for the Garnet in a conference record time of 1:48.81. Ursinus captured the silver while a disqualification allowed Gettysburg to move up to third.
Lea Candelmo continued her winning ways as she ran away with the 400 IM title. The freshmen, once again, led the race from start to finish winning gold in 4:39.37. The race for the silver was back and forth between F&M’s Maggie Johns and Swarthmore’s Maggie Regan. Johns was able to come from behind to touch out Regan thanks to a stellar freestyle leg.
Supriya Davis successfully defended her title in the 100 butterfly holding off Bryn Mawr’s Meredith Davis turning in a 57.10 which is good enough for an NCAA “B” Cut. Davis, a senior, dipped under the 1:00 mark, touching the wall for silver in 59.68. Courtney Collins of F&M was third at 1:00.28.
The 200 free showcased the speed of the young guns in the Centennial Conference with the top three spots going to two freshmen and a sophomore. Corinne Capodanno let it rip with a 1:53.87, earning herself not only the Centennial gold, but a NCAA “B” cut as well. Katie Grant, the sophomore from F&M, touched second just two tenths ahead of Caitlin Klockner of Dickinson.
Gettysburg picked up its second gold for the night in the 100 breaststroke. Marie Gingher narrowly edged out fellow freshmen Nikkia Miller of Swarthmore. The two were tied at the halfway mark but Gingher had the closing speed to lock up the conference title in a 1:07.53. Ellie Miskiel of Washington finished third.
In another exciting finish, McDaniel’s Emma Duesterhaus touched out Malena Lair Ferrari of Ursinus in the 100 back. It seemed that Ursinus’ standout was charging in for the gold, but a quick drive to the wall was all it took for Duesterhaus to grab the gold in 58.65, just .05 in front of Lair Ferrari. Courtney Collins picked up her second bronze on the night in 1:00.82.
To cap off an already impressive night of swimming for the Ursinus women, the team of Malena Lair Ferrari, Bryn O’Neill, Corinne Capodanno and Chelsea Kozior picked up their team’s second relay gold of the weekend. They were challenged by strong squads in Dickinson and F&M, but they held out to win in a new Conference record of 7:47.09.
Standings after Day 2
Women
1 Ursinus College 424
2 Gettysburg College 413
3 Franklin & Marshall College 376.5
4 Dickinson College 341
5 Swarthmore College 329
6 McDaniel College 238
7 Washington College 164
8 Bryn Mawr College 145.5
Men
1 Gettysburg College 532
2 Ursinus College 393
3 Dickinson College 369
4 Franklin & Marshall College 343.5
5 Washington College 272.5
6 Swarthmore College 238.5
7 McDaniel College 168.5