Saturday, Oct. 28, Elizabethtown College’s men’s and women’s swim teams took on Landmark Conference opponent Goucher College at the Alumni Pool in the Jays’ first dual meet of the season.
The Gophers took nine of 14 events on the women’s side, but the women placed high enough in the other events to defeat Goucher 133.5-128.5. The men easily defeated the Gophers 191-69, earning first place in 12 of 14 events.
The women kicked off the meet with a first place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. First-year Abigail Mehring, senior Dru Schneider, sophomore Sadie Hawkins and junior Erika Cole edged out the Gophers by less than a second, coming in with a time of 4:33.61.
Sophomore Sara Lingo took second in the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 2:07.47. She also earned second in the 500-yard freestyle, coming in at 5:50.19, 10 seconds behind junior Alexis Regopoulos for the second time of the afternoon. Lingo took first place in the 200-yard IM, her final individual event of the meet.
Etown went 1-2-3 in the 50-yard backstroke with Mehring finishing first, followed by sophomores Sarah Helt and Hope Sury. Schneider tied for first in the 50-yard breaststroke for the Blue Jays, coming in neck-and-neck with Goucher junior Kyanna Cadwallader. Both swimmers touched the wall in 34.64, each earning 6.5 points for their respective teams. Hawkins also earned a first place finish, coming in at 1:08.18 in the 100-yard butterfly.
After a successful first meet, Mehring is looking forward to the rest of the season. “I have really enjoyed being part of the swim team this season,” Mehring said. “The entire team is super welcoming and I can’t wait for the rest of the season.”
The men’s team also won their first event of the day, defeating Goucher’s 400-yard medley relay team by almost 12 seconds. Juniors Nick Petrella, Ben Spangler, Tommy Kuhn and first-year Austin Dolaway combined to finish with a time of 3:56.85.
Individually, six Blue Jays finished first in 10 events against the Gophers. The men also took first, second and third in six of the events.
Sophomore Casey Marshall finished first in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly. First-year Alex Pecher won both the 50- and 100-yard backstroke and junior Guillaume Gouronc came in first in the 50- and 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM. He was the only Etown swimmer to win all three of his individual events. Sophomore Alec Schneider and juniors David Foery and Kuhn earned first place in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle and the 50-yard freestyle, respectively.
Etown only lost two races on the men’s side, both of which were distance events. Goucher senior Ian Furst crushed his opponents in the 1000-yard freestyle by almost a minute, finishing in 11:18.56. Foery almost managed to beat Furst in the 500-yard freestyle, but was out-touched by .29 seconds.
The men’s team ended the afternoon finishing 1-2-3 in the 400-yard freestyle relay, with Schneider, Marshall, Pecher and Foery coming leading the pack with a 3:29.98 finish.
“Hard work at practice and the support from the coaches has a big contribution to this weekend’s meet,” Mehring said.
The men’s and women’s teams will continue to practice this week in preparation for their meet against Gallaudet College Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. in the Alumni Pool.
