Men's Day 3 Results | Men's Final Results
Women's Day 3 Results | Women's Final Results

LANCASTER, Pa. – Though their paths to the awards podium were drastically different, the results were the same.

The Gettysburg College men's and women's swimming teams hoisted the Centennial Conference trophy for the third year in a row Sunday evening at Franklin & Marshall's Kunkel Acquatic Center.

The men's team jumped to the lead after Day One of the meet on Friday and opened up a commanding 139-point advantage following Day Two. The Bullets continued to pull away on Sunday and finished some 216 points in front of runner-up Ursinus College.

On the other hand, the meet came down to the final event on the women's side. Gettysburg trailed Ursinus by 12 points after Day One and by 11 points after the second day. It was a nip-and-tuck final six events on Sunday, with the lead changing hands three times and the Bullets leading by just 13 points prior to the meet's final event, the 400-freestyle relay. But Gettysburg held off Ursinus by winning a scintillating “B” final and taking fourth in the “A” final to win the meet by seven points (633-626).

Individually, Gettysburg's men's team was led by sophomores Mike Harmon (Shippensburg, Pa./home-schooled), Jason Potter (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan), and Ashton Leyens (Fort Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin), who posted one B-cut apiece. Harmon won the 200-backstroke in 1:50.34 while Potter claimed the 100-freestyle in 45.61. It was the third individual B-cut of the meet for both swimmers.

Leyens took second in the 100-freestyle in 45.78, which was also his second B-cut of the championship.

The three would also team up with Stu Cubbison (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) to give the Bullets their second championship, Centennial Conference record, CC meet record, and B-cut of the meet in the relays, as the foursome clocked a 3:01.97 in the 400-freestyle relay while also establishing a pool record.

Sophomore Cooper Kearns (West Hartford, Conn./Miss Porter's School) paced the women's team, capturing an NCAA B-cut while taking the silver in the 1,650-freestyle (17:19.25). Meanwhile, freshman Lea Candelmo (Oakland, N.J./Immaculate Heart Academy), who took the bronze in the 1,650, earned the Centennial Conference Women's Outstanding Rookie award; she also won the 500-freestyle and 400-IM earlier in the meet.

Also earning medals on Sunday for the men's team were freshman Tyler Gould (Darien, Conn./Darien) in the 100-butterfly (51.77), junior Adam Weinbrom (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) in the 100-backstroke (53.13), who each captured a bronze. In addition, the 200-medley relay team of Harmon, sophomore Will Nelligan (Newtown Square, Pa./Haverford School), Gould, and Cubbison was third in 1:35.00.

Cubbison was also fourth in the 100-freestyle in 46.73 while six additional Bullets reached the A finals for the men's team. Coming in fifth were freshman Ian Scullion (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks South) in the 1,650-freestyle (16:48.86), junior Sean Staerk (Abington, Pa./Abington) in the 100-freestyle (46.89), and Nelligan in the 200-breaststroke (2:11.98). Freshman Jon Bevilacqua (Fairfax, Calif./Sir Frances Drake) placed seventh in the 1,650-freestyle (16:56.29) while freshmen Zach Moser (Wyomissing, Pa./Wyomissing) (100-freestyle, 48.17) and Zack Milko (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial) (200-breaststroke, 2:14.66) each took eighth.

Adding additional points in the B finals were sophomore Kevin Nicholson (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca), who placed 10th overall in the 200-breaststroke (2:15.34), and freshman Kevin Hartnett (Wayne, Pa./Radnor), who was 14th in the 200-backstroke (2:04.45).

For the meet, the men's team finished with 10 B-cuts, three school records, three Centennial Conference records, and three CC championship meet records.

The women's team used a big performance in the opening event of the meet to seize the lead, outscoring Ursinus 52-23 in the 1,650 to go in front by 18 points. The Bears reclaimed the advantage (522-515) by outscoring the Bullets 50-15 in the third event, the 100-freestyle. However, the Orange and Blue went back in front to stay in the following event – the 200-breaststroke, in which it outscored Ursinus 44-18.

The Bullets led 585-572 heading into the 400-free relay, but Ursinus was poised for a comeback as the top-seeded team in the event. But Gettysburg gained four crucial points on the Bears in the B-final, which saw Bullet anchor leg Ellie Houser (Fort Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin) come from behind to beat a team from Ursinus by six-hundredths of a second. Candelmo, senior Cheryl Olechnowicz (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac), and junior Emily Healey (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) swam the opening three legs for the Bullets.

Needing to beat just one team in the A final to clinch the meet, Gettysburg went on to place fourth, as senior Caroline Coolidge (West Hartford, Conn./Kingswood-Oxford), freshman Marie Gingher (Boalsburg, Pa./State College), senior Deirdre Purdy (Bedford, N.Y./Fox Lane), and junior Ali Roth (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) were timed at 3:38.06.

Coolidge (200-backstroke, 2:10.21) and Gingher (200-breaststroke, 2:25.60) added one silver medal apiece for the Bullets.

Four other Bullets scored points for Gettysburg by placing fifth in the A finals: junior Logan Swisher (Baltimore, Md./Towson) in the 1,650 (17:56.19), Roth in the 100-freestyle (53.81), senior Brooke Lacey (Darien, Conn./Darien) in the 200-breaststroke (2:30.98), and Kearns in the 200-butterfly (2:13.33).

Another eight Bullets, along with Swisher, added points in the B finals. Freshman Sam Foote (Unionville, Conn./Farmington) placed ninth in the 200-backstroke (2:14.74), as did classmate Emily Schmitt (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) in the 200-breaststroke (2:31.01). Freshman Sam Bias (Denville, N.J./Morris Knolls) placed 10th in the 200-butterfly (2:15.07) while senior Siobhan Collins (Darnestown, Md./Bullis School) came in 11th in the 200-backstroke (2:16.86).

Placing 12th was Olechnowicz in the 1,650 (18:52.61) and Swisher in the 200-butterfly (2:16.31). Junior Perri Finnican (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) took 13th in the 200-breaststroke (2:33.44), and freshman Alyssa Pepper (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) was 14th in the 200-backstroke (2:19.09). Purdy added a 16th-place finish in the 100-freestyle (55.87).