Individual Results | Team Scores

LANCASTER, Pa. – The Gettysburg College men's and women's swimming team closed the first half of their respective schedules with impressive finishes at the Franklin & Marshall Invitational which wrapped up its final day of competition on Sunday, Dec. 6.

The Bullet men held strong to the third spot among 10 teams competing, totaling 446 points and finishing behind only The College of New Jersey (826.5) and host Franklin & Marshall (554). On the women's side, the Orange and Blue jumped one spot in the 13-team field, moving from fifth to fourth with a final sum of 325 points. TCNJ swept the event with 653.5 points on the women's side, followed by Division II Kutztown University (606.5) and Washington (Md.) College (354).

The second day of competition featured Gettysburg's top relay and individual finishes for both teams during the two-day event. On the men's side, sophomores Matt Libby (Freeport, Maine/Cheverus), Tom Everett (Timonium, Md./McDonogh School), and Drew Close (Berwyn, Pa./Haverford School), and junior Adam Taft (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) took home first place in the 400 freestyle relay, out-touching Widener University's foursome with a season-best time of 3:11.71. Libby put the Bullets out in front with 47.33 in the first 100 yards, while Close closed the door with 47.35.

Libby also posted the highest individual finish by a Bullet with a runner-up showing in the 100 free, clocking in at 47.52. Close wasn't too far off the pace of his relay teammate, placing seventh in the 100 free at 48.09. Other top-10 performances on the men's side came from junior Donald Bennett (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) who placed seventh in the 200 backstroke (2:00.37), sophomore Roger Nawrocki (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough Regional) who placed ninth in the 200 breaststroke (2:17.72), and sophomores Pat McDevitt (Drexel Hill, Pa./Monsignor Bonner) and Kevin Sheridan (Lawrence, N.J./Notre Dame) who went seventh (17:30.57) and ninth (17:44.16) in the 1650 free.

Freshman Brooke Lacey (Darien, Conn./Darien) led the women's team with her second individual top-10 placing in as many days. After finishing ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday, Lacey turned in a fourth-place finish in the 200 breast with a season-best 2:31.05. Freshman Caroline Coolidge (South Windsor, Conn./Kingswood-Oxford), who owned the team's best finish on the first day with seventh in the 200 IM, placed sixth in the 100 free at 55.42. Junior Maggie Mulderrig (Baltimore, Md./Notre Dame Prep) was right behind Coolidge in the 100 with a time of 55.50, good enough for eighth.

Coolidge and Mulderrig teamed with freshmen Cassie Close (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) and Deirdre Purdy (Bedford, N.Y./Fox Lane) for a third-place effort in the 400 free relay (3:43.19). Three Bullets managed top-10 showings in the 200 back as senior Patrice Boucher (Bryn Mawr, Pa./The Shipley School), freshman Siobhan Collins (Darnestown, Md./Bullis School), and Close finished seventh (2:14.66), ninth (2:15.66), and 10th (2:16.19), respectively. Senior Alex Newman (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel) also managed a good showing in the 1650 freestyle, placing 10th at 18:50.29.

The swim teams will get a break from competition over the holidays before resuming training with their annual trip to Barbados on Jan. 3. The next intercollegiate contest for both teams will take place on Jan. 16 against Washington & Lee University at 2 p.m.