The women’s swim team of Elizabethtown College walked away from their meet on Saturday, Nov. 16, having won 10 events and beating the other team by a long shot. The Blue Jays were up against FDU-Florham and won the meet with an incredible final score of 143-38 for their first win of the season.
This was the Blue Jays’ first meet in two weeks, and their hard practices during this short break showed in this competition. Sophomore Katie Derreth shared that every team member “continued to work so hard in those two weeks leading to the meet,” and each “pushed [themselves] to get stronger and better.” Captain fifth-year Kimberly Cosgrove shared that the Blue Jays have been trying new things this season, such as “lifting three mornings a week,” and the “coaches have really been pushing [them] in practice.” Both of these changes seem to be paying off.
Junior Amanda Long also attributed the team’s success in this meet to “the hard work [they’ve] been putting in,” and she is hopeful that this win will lead to victories against Drew University and Lebanon Valley College, some of the Blue Jays’ “close competitors.” Derreth agreed with Long, and felt that the “whole team worked really hard to get this win,” and she asserts that the team will “continue to work hard and push [themselves],” especially for their meet against Drew on Friday, Nov. 22.
Cosgrove and Long each brought home two wins for the Blue Jays on Saturday. Cosgrove won the 200 and 500 freestyle, with times of 2:10.20 and 5:43.90, respectively. Long came close to beating her season best time as she won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:13.70. She also won the 50 free in 28-flat, and swam butterfly in the 200 medley relay which won with a time of 2:08.30. The other swimmers in this medley were first-year Megan Anderson who swam backstroke, first-year Dru Schneider who swam breaststroke and senior Tara Deisher with the freestyle.
Deisher also contributed to the team’s total points with a second place in the 50 free (29.20). Schneider won the 200 individual medley in 2:37.10 and added a second place in the 100 breast with a time of 1:16.30. Anderson got a win and a career best in the 100 back with a time of 1:10.40 and brought in a third place in the 500 free with 6:11.20.
Derreth clocked in at 12:51.72 for a win in the 1000 free and beat her personal best in the 500 free for second place with a time of 6:06.10. This brings her one step closer to her personal goal of breaking six minutes.
Senior Hunter Smith added a win and a personal best in the 100 fly with a time of 1:10.80.
Sophomore Sarah Alps placed second in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:50.30. She also contributed with a win in the 100 having a time of 1:02.70, finishing just before her teammate sophomore Mariselle Parisi whose time was 1:02.90. Parisi also helped the team with her third place in the 100 breast with 1:19.60. Deisher and Smith followed suit in this event to help the Jays take the top four spots.
Other notable performances include first-year Molly Templin’s third place in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:26.30 and sophomore Aly Courtney’s third place in the 100 back in 1:24.50.
Derreth felt that the “whole team is supportive of each other and … push each other to do and be [their] best.” Cosgrove said, “we all believed in ourselves [Saturday] and this helped toward the win.” She also shared “as long as we did our best, we can’t regret anything. Every meet we put forth our best effort,” and this past meet, considering the many improved times, has proved that. Long felt that having a lot of swimmers with improved time “is extremely rewarding, and creates a lot of anticipation for meets to come.” It looks as though these Blue Jays have started their season on the right foot.
The team looks to swim against Drew on Friday, Nov. 21 at home at 6:30 p.m.
