Washington College And McDaneil Have Strong Showings at CC Championships.

Shorewomen are Golden at Centennial Champs
The Washington College women's swim team had an outstanding weekend at the Centennial Conference Championships, hosted by Franklin & Marshall. The Shorewomen, who finished fourth overall, took home seven gold medals, the most of any team. When the meet was over, nine new Washington College school records were on the books and the Shorewomen had broken a pair of Centennial Conference records. Sophomore Rachel Glasser (Silver Spring, MD/Springbrook) was named the meet's Most Outstanding Performer after winning three individual gold medals, breaking three individual school records, and qualifying for the NCAA Division III Championships.

Junior Kathy Gerhart (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville Area) won two individual gold medals and one individual silver while breaking three school records and one conference record. Glasser and Gerhart also swam on two gold-medal, one silver-medal, and one bronze-medal relays, all of which broke school records and one of which established a new conference record.

Day One
During Friday night's finals, the Shorewomen racked up three gold medals and a silver. Gerhart broke the school record in the 50 freestyle for the second time that day and also took down the 13-year old conference record, winning gold in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 24.03. The previous conference record of 24.18 was set by Gettysburg's Megan Lewis in 1996.

Glasser won gold in the 500 freestyle in a school-record and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 5:01.67. Senior Kimber Shoemaker (Berwyn, PA/Conestoga), freshman Jenna Moore (Catonsville, MD/Mount de Sales Academy), Glasser, and Gerhart won gold in the 400 medley relay in a school-record time of 3:59.91. Shoemaker led off the relay with a 1:02.60 backstroke leg to become the Shorewomen's fourth-fastest swimmer ever in the 100 backstroke.

Gerhart, Moore, freshman Laura Risell (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley), and Glasser won the Shorewomen's first medal of the weekend by taking silver in the 200 freestyle relay in a school-record time of 1:38.55. Moore added a fifth-place finish in the 50 freestyle in 24.81, while freshman Kelly Dunbar (Williamsburg, VA/Lafayette) was eighth in the 200 individual medley in 2:19.58.

Glasser wasted no time in posting a provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Championships, swimming a 5:03.42 in the preliminaries of the 500 freestyle. Two events later in the preliminaries, Gerhart broke the school record in the 50 freestyle for the first time by swimming an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 24.27.

Day Two
Saturday night's finals started off with another school and conference record for the Shorewomen as Shoemaker, Moore, Glasser, and Gerhart took gold in the 200 medley relay in 1:49.64. Washington then won two medals in the 100 butterfly as Glasser took gold in a school-record, meet-record and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 57.42 and Gerhart won bronze in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 58.17. Glasser broke her own school record and meet record in the event, having previously swam a school-record, meet-record,  and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 57.56 in the preliminaries earlier in the day. Gerhart swam an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 58.05 in the preliminaries of the 100 butterfly to tie the old school record.

Moore won bronze in the 100 breaststroke in a WC season-best time of 1:08.87 to become the Shorewomen's third-fastest swimmer ever in the event. Dunbar finished fifth in the 400 individual medley in 4:52.08 after swimming a WC season-best 4:49.95 in the preliminaries to become the Shorewomen's sixth-fastest swimmer ever in the event. Shoemaker placed sixth in the 100 backstroke in 1:02.86 after swimming a WC season-best and personal-best time of 1:02.21 in the preliminaries. Junior Cailin Eisele (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) placed eighth in the 100 butterfly in 1:02.10.

Risell finished 10th in the 100 backstroke in 1:04.35, while Shoemaker was 11th in the 400 individual medley in 5:03.65. Freshman Morgan Phillips (Charlottesville, VA/Albemarle) placed 13th in the 100 backstroke in 1:05.22. Freshman Mary Stroman (Bala Cynwyd, PA/Friends Central) finished 16th in the 200 freestyle in 2:02.91, while senior Rebecca Lee (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield) was 16th in the 100 butterfly in 1:05.39. In the 800 freestyle relay, Dunbar, Phillips, freshman Ellen Liebenow (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge), and Stroman were seventh in 8:40.40.

Day Three
Glasser's third gold-medal performance was her most impressive as she swam a school- and meet-record 2:03.12 to win the 200 butterfly. Earlier in the day, she swam a 2:04.10 in the preliminaries of the event to break the school record and meet record for the first time. Both of her times were NCAA automatic qualifying times, guaranteeing Glasser a spot at the NCAA Division III Championships.

Gerhart picked up her second individual gold medal of the weekend by swimming a school- and meet-record 52.70 to win the 100 freestyle. Gerhart, Moore, Stroman, and Glasser won bronze in the 400 freestyle relay in a school-record time of 3:37.51. Shoemaker finished sixth in the 200 backstroke in a WC season-best time of 2:13.59 to become the Shorewomen's sixth-fastest swimmer ever in the event.

Eisele finished 10th in the 200 butterfly in 2:20.27. Moore was 13th in the 200 breaststroke in 2:38.23. Phillips finished 15th in the 200 backstroke in 2:23.47, while senior Cara Choplin (West Deptford, NJ/Bishop Eustace) was 15th in the 200 butterfly in 2:27.64. . Stroman took 16th in the 100 freestyle in 57.10, while Dunbar was 16th in the 200 breaststroke in 2:44.34.

Glasser will compete at the NCAA Division III Championships at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN, March 18-21. Gerhart will await word on whether any of her provisional qualifying times will qualify her to join her teammate at the national championship meet.

Pollock Wins Two Golds at Centennials
Junior Dylan Pollock (Savannah, GA/Benedictine Military) won two gold medals and broke a school record in the 200 butterfly to lead the Washington College men's swim team at this weekend's Centennial Conference Championships, hosted by Franklin & Marshall. The Shoremen, who finished fifth overall in the team standings, also won silver in the 800 freestyle relay in school-record time.

Day One
Junior Chris Soper (Towson, MD/Loyola Blakefield), Pollock, freshman Nick Longworth (Media, PA/Strath Haven), and senior Dan Wentzel (Exton, PA/Henderson) were fifth in the 200 freestyle relay in a Washington College season-best time of 1:28.92 for the Shoremen's highest finish on Friday. Wentzel swam a personal-best and WC season-best time of 4:53.82 to finish sixth in the 500 freestyle. The Shoremen were also sixth in the 400 medley relay as Longworth, freshman Austin Auger (McLean, VA/Langley), Pollock, and Soper finished in a WC season-best time of 3:38.75.

Sophomore Matt Violette (Westbrook, ME/Westbrook) swam a WC season-best time of 2:02.23 to finish 11th in the 200 individual medley and become the Shoremen's eighth-fastest swimmer ever in the event. Soper finished 15th in the 50 freestyle in 22.55 after swimming a WC season-best time of 22.44 in the preliminaries.

Day Two
Pollock got the Shoremen in the medal count by winning gold in the 100 butterfly in a WC season-best and personal-best time of 52.21. Soper, Longworth, Wentzel and Violette accounted for the Shoremen's second medal by winning silver in the 800 freestyle relay in a school-record time of 7:08.33. Violette was fourth in the 400 individual medley in 4:17.68 after swimming a WC season-best time of 4:17.55 in the preliminaries. Violette, Auger, Pollock, and Soper finished fifth in the 200 medley relay in a WC season-best time of 1:38.97. Auger took eighth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.54 after swimming a WC season-best time of 1:02.00 in the preliminaries to become the Shoremen's sixth-fastest swimmer ever in that event.

Soper finished ninth in the 200 freestyle in a WC season-best time of 1:46.43 to become the Shoremen's third-fastest swimmer ever in that event. Freshman Johnny Helenek (Gaithersburg, MD/Gaithersburg) placed 12th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.68 to become the Shoremen's seventh-fastest swimmer ever in the event. Senior Phil Munger (Devon, PA/Conestoga) was 13th in the 100 butterfly in a personal-best time of 55.95, while Longworth finished 13th in the 100 backstroke in 56.27 after swimming a WC season-best time of 55.54 in the preliminaries to become the Shoremen's seventh-fastest swimmer ever in the event. Wentzel placed 16th in the 200 freestyle in 1:51.42.

Day Three
Pollock won his second gold medal on Sunday night, capturing the 200 butterfly in a school-record time of 1:55.82. Longworth finished one spot out of a medal in the 200 backstroke, breaking a 13-year old school record by placing fourth in 1:57.70. Wentzel broke a 15-year old school record by finishing sixth in the 1650 freestyle in 16:57.28. Longworth, Violette, Pollock, and Wentzel placed fifth in the 400 freestyle relay in a WC season-best time of 3:18.41.

Helenek took 10th in the 200 breaststroke in a WC season-best time of 2:16.51 to become the Shoremen's sixth-fastest swimmer ever in the event. Munger finished 12th in the 200 butterfly in 2:09.20 to become the Shoremen's 10th-fastest swimmer ever in the event. Auger was 12th in the 200 breaststroke in 2:17.17, while Violette finished 12th in the 200 backstroke in 2:02.00. Junior Dan Beadell (Timonium, MD/Loyola Blakefield) was 15th in the 1650 freestyle in 18:15.51, while freshman Ben Longwell (East Greenville, PA/Upper Perkiomen) was 16th in the same event in 20:21.65.

Walega wins breaststroke to pace McDaniel at CC Championships
Rachel Walega (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) won the 100 breaststroke in a program-record time of 1:07.26 to reach an NCAA Division III B-Cut time in the event and lead McDaniel to a seventh-place finish at the 2009 Centennial Conference (CC) swimming championships hosted by Franklin & Marshall on Friday-Sunday.
 
The Green Terror women were seventh out of the eight teams at the championships with 232 points. Gettysburg won its 11th title with 750.5 points.

On the men’s side, McDaniel was seventh with 207 points. Franklin & Marshall won its third-straight title and eighth overall with 910.5 points – 224 points ahead of second-place Swarthmore.

Walega added a fourth-place showing in the breaststroke with a time of 2:31.21.

Jessica Fry (St. Mary’s, Ga./Camden County) was the only other Green Terror competitor in the A-finals, notching a pair of seventh-place finishes. Fry finished in the top eight in the 400 IM (4:56.83) and 200 free (2:00.53).

Stephen Gomez (Charlottesville, Va./Albermarle) led the way on the men’s side with a bronze medal in the 400 IM, finishing with a time of 4:17.57. He also added a fifth-place showing in the 1650 free (16:54.48).

James Eu (Reston, Va./Hargrave Military Academy) was the only other competitor that McDaniel had in the A-finals, notching a time of 1:47.18 in the 200 free.
 
Men’s Team Scores: 1. Franklin & Marshall 910.5, 2. Swarthmore 686.5, 3. Gettysburg 566, 4. Dickinson 408, 5. Washington 339, 6. Ursinus 296, 7. McDaniel 207.