Saturday, Jan. 27, Elizabethtown College’s men’s and women’s swim teams competed in their last away meet of the season against McDaniel College. McDaniel defeated both Etown teams, defeating the women 58-24 and the men 46-45.
McDaniel won the first event of the afternoon, finishing 11 seconds ahead of Etown’s 400-yard medley A relay team.
Sophomore Sara Lingo won two individual races in the meet, which were the only two wins the women’s team earned. McDaniel finished with six individual wins from six different swimmers.
Lingo won the 400-yard IM uncontested, finishing in 5:04.56. This was a season-best time for Lingo and the 11th fastest 400-yard IM time in the Landmark Conference. Lingo also took first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:42.54. Lingo finished seven seconds ahead of the second place McDaniel finisher, first-year Madison Gamble.
Sophomore Maddie Ripley earned three points for the team with a second place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Ripley finished in 12:53.40, followed by first-year teammate Miranda Decker. Ripley’s time is the third-best 1,000-yard time this season for the team. First-year Abigail Mehring swam exhibition in the 50-yard freestyle, also earning a third best time for the team this season, finishing in 27.81.
Junior Erika Cole also contributed to the win, finishing second in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races. Cole finished the 100-yard freestyle in 59:84, finishing in under 1:00 for the first time this season.
The men’s team won four events at the meet with wins from senior David Foery, junior Ben Spangler and first-year Alex Pecher.
Foery took first in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing in 1:55.44. Spangler swam the 400-yard IM uncontested. He earned five points for the team, finishing in 4:53.16. Pecher also had a win, finishing first in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.71.
The men’s team won the 400-yard freestyle relay, the last event of the afternoon for the men, earning seven points for the Blue Jays. Pecher, Foery and sophomores Casey Marshall and Alec Schneider all contributed to the win.
The men’s and women’s teams will both compete in their last regular season meet next Friday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. Following the meet, the teams will continue to prepare for the Landmark Conference Swimming & Diving Championships, which run from Friday, Feb. 16, through Sunday, Feb. 18 at the Germantown Indoor Swim Center in Boyds, Maryland.
