Franklin & Marshall Men
The Franklin & Marshall men's swimming team closed out competition at the Centennial Conference (CC) Championships on Sunday evening, finishing in fourth with 467.5 points. Gettysburg took home the team crown, collecting 689 points over the six sessions of competition.
Richard Perry notched the highest Diplomat finish of the night, earning fourth place in the 200-yard butterfly after clocking a time of 1:56.60. He was joined in the finals David Burton, whose time of 1:57.55 placed him sixth.
Timothy Gould equaled Perry's effort in the 200-yard backstroke, taking fourth with a time of 1:55.60. Teammate Jack Currie used a time of 1:58.81 to finish fifth in the consolation final and 13th overall.
Patrick Greaney led Diplomats in the 1650-yard freestyle, taking sixth in the faster of two timed finals to finish sixth overall, recording a time of 16:41.85. Jordan Alter took first place in the previous timed final, earning seventh overall after finishing in 16:55.43. Reeves Connolly took 15th, marking a time of 17:11.27.
Eric Lang carried F&M hopes in the 200-yard breaststroke after qualifying for the finals earlier in the day. The sophomore swam a time of 2:10.25 in the medal round to earn sixth place.
Daniel Sanders just missed the A final in the morning's prelims of the 100-yard freestyle, but confirmed his top seed in the B final by winning and earning ninth overall with a time of 47.57. Ryan Caffrey followed less than .5 behind, taking 15th in 48.05.
The team of Caffrey, Lang, Burton, and Perry finished out the meet in the 400-yard freestyle relay, taking fifth with a time of 3:11.70. Keith Kamons, Gould, Currie, and Matthew Murphy teamed up to finish 12th after clocking a time of 3:14.24.
National competition is next on the schedule for those that qualify. The NCAA Championships kick off on March 16 and continue through March 19.
Franklin & Marshall Women
Franklin & Marshall's women's swimming team finished up competition at the Centennial Conference (CC) Championships on Sunday night, finishing in third place. Ursinus took home the individual crown with 846 points, while the Diplomats collected 518 over the three days of competition.
Becca Meyers provided the highlight of the night, winning the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:43.06. That mark broke the pool record, meet record, and her own conference record by more than 10 seconds. The time is under the NCAA B cut standard and at the time of completion was the fourth-fastest time in Division III this year.
Meyers was backed up by a strong F&M contingent in the event. Grace Pereles took fifth with a time of 17:49.86, while Breann Cavanagh (8th, 18:00.74), Leeza Rojas (12th, 13:38.81), and Rebecca McCain (16th, 18:53.62) all earned points for the Diplomats.
Melissa Mullin reached the podium for the second time, taking silver in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:24.99. Michelle Wall posted a time of 2:27.98 to take second in the B final and 10th overall while Erin Smith's time of 2:37.10 earned her 16th.
Anna Hess added to an impressive performance at her first championship weekend by taking fourth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:07.94. Courtney Collins won the B final to take ninth in 2:10.04, followed by Taylor Mateja in 12th with a mark of 2:11.66.
Kellen McDonald led the Diplomats in the 200-yard butterfly, clocking a time of 2:09.96 to take fifth. Diane Wagner was next to touch the wall for F&M, as her time of 2:16.12 was good for 12th.
Jillian Albus carried the F&M banner in the 100-yard freestyle, taking eighth with a time of 54.69.
In the last event of the championships, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Albus, Pereles, Collins, and Meyers finished eighth in 3:39.80. The team of Cavanagh, Alyson Campbell, Hess, and Mateja rounded out the Diplomat effort by taking 11th in 3:42.17.
The NCAA championship is next up for swimmers that qualify. National competition begins on March 16 in Greensboro, N.C. and runs through March 19.
Washington College Men
Eleven of the program's 19 school records were broken as the Washington College men's swim team won 15 medals en route to a third-place finish among seven teams at the 2016 Centennial Conference Swim Championships held Friday, yesterday, and today at Gettysburg College. Junior Pat Elliott (Media, Pa./Salesianum School [Del.]), senior Lucas Morgan (Allendale, N.J./Northern Highlands Regional), and freshman Ty Cummings (West Chester, Pa./Bayard Rustin) each won a gold medal for the Shoremen. Cummings was named the Most Outstanding Rookie Performer of the meet.
Pat Elliott, Lucas Morgan, and Ty Cummings each won a gold medal for the Shoremen. Cummings was named the Outstanding Rookie Performer of the meet.
Elliott won gold in the 200 freestyle in 1:42.74, having broken the school record with a 1:42.12 in the preliminaries. He won silver in the 500 freestyle in a school-record and NCAA Division III Championship provisional qualifying time ("B Cut") of 4:36.84. He also won silver in the 1650 freestyle in a school-record and B Cut time of 16:10.73. During that race, he set a new school record for the 1000 freestyle with a split time of 9:47.39. His lead-off leg in the 400 freestyle relay of 47.93 made him the Shoremen's 10th-fastest 100 freestyle swimmer ever.
Morgan won his gold medal in the 200 breaststroke with an NCAA B Cut and school-record time of 2:04.83. He added a bronze medal in the 200 individual medley in 1:54.19, swimming a 1:53.78 in the preliminaries to break the school record. He also won bronze in the 400 individual medley in 4:04.72, a team season-best time. He became the Shoremen's 10th-fastest swimmer ever in the 200 freestyle with a 1:46.75 lead-off leg of the 800 freestyle relay.
Cummings picked up his gold medal in the 200 butterfly in a team season-best and B Cut time of 1:53.59 to become the Shoremen's second-fastest swimmer ever in that event. He also placed fifth in the 100 butterfly in a WC season-best 51.31 to become the program's third fastest swimmer ever in the event and seventh in the 200 individual medley in 1:58.07 to become its sixth-fastest ever in that event.
Cody Weiler broke three school records on the way to three individual medals. We won silver in the 100 backstroke in a school-record 51.65, bronze in the 50 freestyle in a school-record 20.88, and bronze in the 100 freestyle in a school-record 46.46.
The Shoremen won bronze in all five relay events. Weiler, Kevin Mackenzie, DJ Bradshaw, and Brent Longenecker broke the school record in the 200 freestyle relay by winning bronze in 1:24.76. Elliott, Morgan, Cummings, and Weiler won bronze in the 400 medley relay in 3:27.30. Charles Logan, Mackenzie, Cummings, and Weiler won bronze in the 200 medley relay in 1:34.07. Morgan, Finny Dorsch, Bradshaw, and Elliott took bronze in the 800 freestyle relay in 7:03.14. Elliott, Weiler, Jason Mercando, and Mackenzie claimed the bronze in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:09.46.
Washington College Women
The Washington College women's swim team won five medals and broke five school records en route to a sixth-place finish among eight teams at the 2016 Centennial Conference Championships held Friday, yesterday, and today at Gettysburg College.
The Shorewomen won medals in four of the five relay events, including a silver in the meet's final event, the 400 freestyle relay. Julia Portmann, Anna Schmittle, Ellen Maxwell, and Jenni Clune placed second in a Washington College season-best 3:35.55.
Maxwell, Clune, Mackenzie Gaze, and Katie Gorman broke the school record in the 200 medley relay by winning bronze in 1:49.50. Maxwell, Gorman, Tricia Markey, and Portmann broke the school record in the 800 freestyle relay with their bronze medal-winning time of 7:51.15. Portmann, Gorman, Gaze, and Clune added a bronze in the 200 freestyle relay with their team season-best time of 1:38.98.
Clune captured the bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.26, a team season-best time which bettered her own standing as the team's third-fastest swimmer ever in that event. She just missed a medal in the 200 breaststroke, placing fourth in a team season-best time of 2:25.38 to become the team's third-fastest swimmer ever in that event. She was also 11th in the 200 individual medley in 2:12.33 to become the Shorewomen's third-fastest swimmer ever in that event.
