Gettysburg vs Johns Hopkins

• Friday April 23, 2021
• Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pa
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Meet Results

Gettysburg College hosted Johns Hopkins last week in what was a fast, late season dual meet between the two Division III schools. Both  teams held nothing back and made the most of the opportunity to swim as multiple school records and All-American times were posted.

Due to the cancellation of the 2021 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships, the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America, established the following criteria for All-American status:

• First Team All-American: achieve a CSCAA Automatic Time Standard or rank in the top eight an an event at the end of the year
• Second Team All-American: achieve a CSCAA Consideration Standard and be ranked 9th-16th in the event. If fewer than 16 individuals or relays achieve the “B” standard in an event, no additional selections will be made for that event. 
• Athletes are limited to a maximum of seven All-American honors including a maximum of three individual events

Men’s Meet

While no team scores were kept, JHU managed to win 11 of the contested 17 events. JHU broke two school records, set seven pool records, and posted seven All-American times on the day. Gettysburg held their own in the meet, as they broke a school record and posted three CSCAA “B” times.

Junior Jeff Vitek of JHU had the swim of the day as he flirted with the NCAA record in the 100 butterfly. He posted a DIII “A” time of 47.13 and was .21 seconds off the record of 46.92 set by David Fitch of Kenyon in 2018. Vitek smashed the previous JHU record of 47.90 set by Brandon Fabian in 2018. 

Vitek led the way in a fast 200 butterfly where the top four swimmers were all under 1:53. Vitek earned his second “A” time in the 200 fly as he swam to a pool record of 1:46.93, just off his own school record of 1:46.88. Fellow Blue Jay, freshman Chris Seymour, finished second with a “B” time of 1:51.07. Gettysburg Junior Oliver Pickering reset his own school record in the event as he finished third in 1:51.86, bettering his time of 1:52.32 from two years ago. 

Vitek was also a member of JHU’s 200 medley relay team that earned an “A” time. Junior Dylan Wachenfeld (23.18), junior Maxwell Chen (24.26), Vitek (21.44), and senior Nat Davenport (20.64) combined to 1:29.52, the ninth fastest time in JHU history. 

Gettysburg got in on the CSCAA time action with an “A” standard in the 200 free relay. Senior Oliver Yancey (20.20), junior Sam Nonemaker (20.32), senior Aedan Collins (20.62), and senior Jack Edelson (20.44) finished in 1:21.58, the fifth fastest time in Gettysburg history. Yancey’s lead-off swim was under the “B” time and bettered his 20.44 from the individual event earlier in the day. JHU’s second place time of 1:22.64 was under the “B” standard. 

The men’s 100 breaststroke featured three CSCAA time standards for JHU. Chen won the event in 53.64 which took down the JHU record of 54.04 set by Evan Holder in 2017. Finishing behind him was sophomore Kyle Wu in 54.67 and sophomore Brandon Stride in 56.26. Chen and Wu were both below the “A” standard while Stride was below the “B” mark. 

Stride and Wu would both earn “A” times in the 200 breaststroke. Stride’s time of 1:59.01 is the fourth fastest time in JHU history while Wu’s time of 1:59.98 is the fifth fastest.

JHU’s last “A” standard on the day came from Wachenfeld. He swam the sixth fastest time in JHU history with a time of 1:46.59 in the 200 backstroke. 

JHU and Gettysburg battled in the 400 free relay. JHU front-loaded their relay and built over a second and a half lead at the halfway mark. Gettysburg would chip into their lead on the third leg but JHU led by .78 going into the anchor leg. Yancy’s opening split 20.96 would move Gettysburg ahead of JHU and go on to win in 3:03.24 with JHU second in 3:03.61. 

Other swims of note:

• Wachenfeld won the 200 IM with a “B” time of 1:51.44
• Senior Matt McGough of JHU won the 400 IM with a “B” time of 4:01.30
• JHU junior Collin Hughes earned two “B” times: the 200 free (1:39.40) and the 100 free (45.16)
• JHU freshman Kellen Roddy won the 1650 free with a “B” time of 15:34.08. He broke the pool record in both the 1650 as well as his 1000 split from the race of 9:21.62
• Yancy led a 1-2-3 finish for Gettysburg in the 50 free with fellow seniors Danny Petrillo (21.13) and Harrison McCool (21.14)
• Gettysburg freshman Luke McKenna won the 500 free in 4:41.13, the seventh fastest time in school history. His time of 16:16.47 in the 1650 free was the fourth fastest time in school history

Women’s Meet

The Johns Hopkins women dominated the meet as they won all but one event on the day and posted five CSCAA “B” times. 

JHU’s first “B” standard came in the 50 freestyle where the Blue Jays swam to a 1-2-3 finish. Junior Kristen Alicea-Jorgensen came in first with a CSCAA “B” time of 23.77. Right behind Alicea-Jorgensen were senior Mikayla Bisignani (23.96) and freshman Anni Fan (24.23). 

Alicea-Jorgensen would better her 50 time as she led-off the winning 200 free relay in 23.66. She teamed up with Fan (24.39), junior Sophia Girgenti (24.48), and Bisignani (23.66) to finish first in 1:36.19.

Fan would earn her own “B” time in a very competitive 100 butterfly which saw the top four finishers all under 58.60. Fan took the event in 56.33 followed by sophomore teammate Emerson Davis in 57.54. Gettysburg sophomores Annabel Gorman (58.13) and Elissa Clancy (58.58) placed third and fourth respectively. 

The backstroke events featured freshmen from both schools going head-to-head. Cameron Roche of JHU would sweep the events as she earned a “B” time with her performance of 2:03.13 in the 200 back. Alexandra Zelinske of Gettysburg put up the second fastest time in school history in 2:06.99. Roche finished first in the 100 back in 57.04 where the top six finishers were all under 1:00.  Zelinske took third in 57.96, which is the third best time in program history.

The last “B” time would come in the 200 breaststroke. JHU sophomore Kate Overbey won the event in 2:22.48. Overbey also won the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.51. Overbey was challenged in these events by Gettysburg sophomore Talia Moss. Moss finished second in the 100 in 1:07.20 and second in the 200 in 2:25.71. 

Gettysburg’s lone event win came from sophomore Lauren Manning in the 500 freestyle. She touched the wall in 5:14.00, well over two seconds faster than the next swimmer. 

Other swims of note:

• JHU swept all relay events highlighted by a 1:45.51 in the 200 medley relay
• Girgenti won the 200 free in 1:53.64 as JHU swimmers took the top six places