The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Swim Championships is a big event for the Elizabethtown College men’s and women’s swim teams. The 2012/2013 season MAC championship swim meet took place Feb. 8 to 10 and was held in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
The teams had three days full of events, competing against ten other teams all hoping to be the conference champions. The women’s team entered the MAC championships with an overall record of 2-10, and in conference 2-7. The men’s team ended their season with an overall record of 3-9, and in conference 3-6. At the end of the MAC championships the Etown women’s swim team finished in tenth place, while the Etown men’s swim team finished in ninth.
First-year Rachel Engelhardt said before the meet, “Coming in as a freshman, I don’t really know what to expect. I am nervous but really excited because we trained hard all year for this.” According to Engelhardt, senior captain Chris Nelson told all the underclassmen “to swim fast and enjoy it.”
The team was ready for an exciting and competitive weekend. Head Coach Mark Wilson wanted his swimmers “to drop times and swim best times.” He also wanted “everyone to have a great taper and enjoy the weekend.”
On Friday, Feb. 8 the women’s team competed in three different events: the 200 freestyle relay, 50 freestyle and 400 medley relay. The 200 freestyle relay team, which consisted of senior Jennifer Malik, sophomore Becki Lane, first-year Elizabeth Finnegan and Engelhardt, started the day off strong, receiving fifth place. Jennifer Malik also swam the next event, the 50 freestyle, and placed 12th. Sophomores Tara Deisher, Hunter Smith and Lane and first-year Bonnie Lisk competed in the last event for the day, the 400 medley relay, coming in ninth place. At the end of the first day, the women’s team was in tenth place.
The men’s team also competed in three events at that first day of the championships: the 200 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle and 400 medley relay. The 200 freestyle relay team was made up of seniors Nelson and Nathaniel VanderWerff, junior Andrew Malik and sophomore Ryan Supplee. They finished their relay in seventh place. Sophomore Frank Capria swam the 500 freestyle, placing 15th and finishing the race in 5:05, coming close to his goal of breaking five minutes. The last event for the men was the 400 medley, where seniors Ryan Hannon and Shaun Martin, junior Michael Rentschler and Suplee came in seventh place. At the end of the day, the men’s team was in eighth place.
Saturday, Feb. 9, the women’s team swam in another three events: the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle and 800 freestyle relay. Coming in tenth place in the 200 medley relay was the team of Lisk, Deisher, Smith and Jennifer Malik, finishing the race in 2:04.55. Engelhardt had a tough race in the 200 freestyle, coming in 15th. The last event for the day was the 800 freestyle, and Etown’s women’s team of Deisher, Engelhardt, Lane and first-year Joni Fleming finished the race in ninth place. The Etown women’s team finished the second day of events in 10th again.
The men’s swim team had four events in which they competed on Saturday: the 200 medley relay, 400 individual medley, 100 breaststroke and 800 freestyle relay. Hannon, Martin, Nelson and VanderWerff, swam a 1:44.31 in the 200 medley relay to finish in eighth place. Martin swam the 400 individual medley for his next event and ended the race in 16th. Martin and Supplee then swam in the 100 breaststroke, Martin coming in 15th and Supplee right behind in 16th. The last event for the Etown men’s swim team for the day was the 800 freestyle relay in which Andrew Malik, Hannon, Capria and Suplee competed. The four men swam a good race and ended up in eighth place. At the end of the day though, the team fell to ninth place overall.
The final day at the MAC Championship consisted of two events in which multiple Etown women swimmers participated. In the 100 freestyle, Lane came in 10th, followed by Engelhardt in 13th, and Jennifer Malik in 16th. The second event for the women’s team for the day was the 400 freestyle relay, for which the team, made up of Jennifer Malik, senior Chelsea Lorenz, Engelhardt and Lane came in 8th place. The Etown women’s team ended the MACs in 10th place overall with a score of 119.
The Etown men’s team had a more event-filled day, participating in four events on Sunday. Capria and Nelson swam in the 1650 freestyle, with Capria coming in 12th place and Nelson in 25th. In the 200 breaststroke, Supplee came in 10th followed by Martin in 15th. The last event for the men was the 400 freestyle relay, swam by Andrew Malik, VanderWerff, Hannon and Supplee. The relay team finished in eighth place. With this final day the men’s team ended up in ninth place with 148 points.