For most, it was a normal weekend in February. For the swimming athletes, it was the weekend that they had trained their entire season for.
The Elizabethtown College swim teams went on a road trip this past weekend, heading to Baltimore, Maryland to take on all other nine teams in the Landmark Conference in the Landmark Conference Championships. The team records are nullified at this stage as the only thing that matters is the performance at the event.
The Blue Jays started their Thursday by taking sixth in both the men’s and women’s 200 yard medley relay. The combination of senior Leif Hoffman, senior Garren McKenzie, senior Austin Smith and sophomore Marco Niosi put together a 1:38.88 time, finishing less than two tenths behind the fifth place finishers in Wilkes University. First-year Emma Paul, seniors Emma Sabalaske and Kaylee Blair and junior Megan Benson finished their 200 yard relay in 1:54.42, less than a second off of Susquehanna University ahead of them.
Heading into Friday, Blair started a strong day for the Blue Jays, picking up third place in the 500 yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 5:14.53, edging out Catholic’s swimmer by seven hundredths of a second. Senior Hailey Poulos finished behind Blair, picking up an overall finish of 16th after making the B-Final. Sabalaske finished eighth overall in the 200 yard IM adding another strong finish to the Blue Jay resume. Etown’s men’s team picked up fifth in the 400 yard medley relay after Hoffman, Smith and sophomores Barron Bishop and Mikey Tittermary finished with a time of 3:36.93.
Hoffman continued the list of great performances by the Blue Jays, picking up seventh in the 400 yard IM with a time of 4:18.56. Tittermary finished 15th overall, finishing with a 4:36.49 in the B-final. Smith picked up a sixth place finish in the 100 yard butterfly and Blair finished sixth in the 200 yard freestyle. Bishop continued the strain of A-final finishes for Etown, picking up seventh in the 100 yard breaststroke, taking the position by only three hundredths of a second. For the women’s 100 yard breaststroke, Sabalaske matched Bishop, collecting another seventh place finish in the event, followed by first-year Katarina Linde and Benson, finishing 10thtenth and 12th respectively.
Etown finished off the four-day event strong, with first-year Billy Bartolomei picking up 12th in the 1650 yard freestyle. Hoffman picked up another top-five finish, picking up fourth in the 200 yard backstroke. In the final for the 200 yard breaststroke, Sabalaske finished first in the B-final, collecting ninth overall with a time that would’ve finished sixth in the A-final. Hoffman added another top finish, collecting a ninth place finish in the 200 yard butterfly, winning the B-final. Senior Jordyn Dutko picked up a 12th place finish in the 200 yard butterfly after a strong weekend.
After all the events finished for the evening, Elizabethtown’s men’s team finished fifth overall and the women’s team finished sixth place to conclude the 2025-26 swim season.
“The team’s performance at Landmark’s this weekend was really exceptional,” sophomore swimmer Noah Lynch said. “Landmark’s gives everyone the chance to prove to the team and to themselves how much hard work they have put in over the season. We had a great time being together and cheering each other on.”
The Blue Jays will hop into the pool next fall semester in early October.
