Wolverines top Westminster in PAC clash

Grove City College swept Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) rival Westminster College Tuesday night.  The Grove City men (9-2, 3-0 PAC) topped the Titans (5-3, 1-2 PAC), 141-121, and the Grove City women (9-3, 4-0 PAC) beat the Titan women (4-5, 2-2 PAC), 155-139.

GCC Senior Caleb Courage (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg) paced Grove City by earning three individual victories Tuesday night. Courage won the 100 backstroke in 51.65, then touched first in the 200 backstroke (1:54.90). He then concluded his night by winning the 200 individual medley in 1:55.63.

GCC Senior Tim Whitbeck (Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown) swept the sprints for Grove City. He won the 50 free in 20.77 seconds, then posted a winning time of 47.23 in the 100 free. Whitbeck also anchored Grove City's victorious 200 free relay team as he, senior Peter Larsen (Federal Way, Wash./Tacoma Baptist), freshman Nick Hamilton (Crescent, Pa./Moon) and senior Drew Snyder (Harmony, Pa./Seneca Valley) closed the meet with a winning time of 1:26.02.

Larsen also won the 100 butterfly in 52.34 while freshman Kirk Gagliardo (Wadsworth, Ill./Warren Township) won the 200 free in 1:44.61.
The Westminster men won six events including two Titans winning two individual events apiece. The Westminster women took 10 events including three individuals winning three races apiece.

Westminster Junior Emily Dressler (Hummelstown, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian) won three events as she broke her own school record in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:09.80, beating her previous mark of 5:10.30 that she set Saturday at Carnegie Mellon. Dressler also took the 200 (1:56.95) and 1,000 (10:55.23) freestyles.

Westminster Senior Megan Mier (Copley, Ohio/Revere) won the 100 (1:00.80) and 200 (2:09.44) backstrokes and also the 100 butterfly (59.43).

Westminster Freshman Caitlin Lehberger (New Wilmington, Pa./Wilmington) captured the 100 (1:06.58) and 200 (2:26.57) breaststrokes while also touching first in the 200 IM (2:11.38).

Westminster Mier and Lehberger also helped Westminster win the 400 medley relay (4:03.71).

On the men's side, senior Zac Gebhardt (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) and junior Ben Gutmann (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) each won two individual events. Gebhardt won the 500 (4:53.56) and 1,000 (10:04.26) freestyles, while Gutmann took the 100 (59.26) and 200 (2:10.29) breaststrokes.

Senior Conor Simpson (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) captured the 200 butterfly (1:58.56) and joined Gutmann for one half of Westminster's winning 400 medley relay team (3.32.05).

The Grove City women sewed up the victory by winning the meet-ending 200 free relay. Freshman Jenna Richert (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley), freshman Emily Kramer (Ankeny, Iowa/Homeschooled), junior Amanda Thompson (Erie, Pa./McDowell) and sophomore Sarah Page (Colorado Springs, Colo./Pine Creek) combined for a victorious time of 1 minute, 41.13 seconds.

Page also recorded a pair of individual wins for Grove City. She won the 50 free in 25.09 seconds, then won the 100 free in 54.55. Richert took the 200 butterfly with a 2:16.35 clocking.

GCC Freshman Bethany Johnson swept the diving events for the Wolverines. She won 1-meter diving with 222.60 points, then took top honors on the 3-meter board with 215.00 points.

The Lady Wolverines are in pursuit of their first 10-win season since the 1996-97 team went 11-1. The 11 wins are a single-season school record.  Westminster hosts Saint Vincent on Saturday at 1 p.m. for the final home meet of the season.  The all-time series between Grove City and Westminster is now tied 38-38. Grove City will visit Pitt-Bradford Friday night in a double-dual with Penn State Behrend.