After coming off a loss to Hood College on Wednesday Nov. 7, the Elizabethtown College men and women’s swim team (1-2) had to fight back against the Lycoming College Warriors (2-2) at Etown’s Alumni Pool on Saturday Nov. 10. Unfortunately, the Jays were not able to pull through and they lost again. The men’s final score was 156-86, while the women’s final score was 142.5-109.5. Lycoming’s win on Saturday was their second win in the conference.
The Blue Jays’ meet on Saturday was longer than usual, as it included long-course and short-course events and allowed the swimmers an opportunity to swim events they normally would not swim.
The Etown swimmers started the day looking for a win. Unfortunately, Lycoming swept the board and dominated in many of the events. However Etown sophomore Becki Lane and seniors Jenny Malik and Ryan Hannon dominated in their events during the meet. Lane was able to pull out an impressive time of 2:08.39 in her 200 freestyle. Malik won the 50 freestyle in 26.20 and Hannon won his 200 backstroke race with an outstanding time of 2:12.73. Also in the meet, sophomore Frank Capria and junior Megan Leppo were able to help the Blue Jays out by winning their distance freestyle events. Capria and Leppo swept the 500 and 1000 distances. Leppo hit the clock in the 1000 distance freestyle with her best time of the season 11:35.66. However, this was not enough for the Blue Jays to win the meet. Lycoming pulled ahead and Etown could not catch up.
Sophomore Hunter Smith said, “Lycoming was a pretty tough team. This was a great opportunity for us to get some harder races in and an opportunity to qualify for MAC events that are rarely swam.”
This season, the Etown swimmers are both expected to do very well. With many first-years joining the team and many experienced swimmers coming back, the Blue Jays are expecting to show a good record this season. “The freshmen are a great addition to our team this year and are definitely making an impact at our meets,” Smith said. “Despite a few injuries some of the girls are fighting through. You can definitely tell that they are trying the best for our team.”
Sophomore Jamie Cohen said, “This year we continue to bond with one another. Not only do we encourage ourselves in the pool but we have fun out of the pool as well. Bonding as a team will help us swim better as a team.”
The Blue Jays set goals for each individual meet, but the overall goal this year is for each person to qualify for the MAC Championship. Cohen said, “It would be really cool if all of my teammates were able to qualify. It is definitely possible.”
Smith added, “Both the girls and the guys definitely have an opportunity to send everybody to MACs if we keep up with practicing hard and trying our best.”
Although there are many contributors to the swim team this season, in the three meets so far, Hannon, Capria, Malik and Lane have excelled.
Capria continues to sweep the competition in many of his events, such as the 200 individual medleys, while Malik continues to put up impressive times on the 100 and 200 freestyles. Lane and Hannon have dominated in their freestyle events and relays.
The Etown swim team will face Messiah College (3-2) next on Nov. 14. This will be the Blue Jays fourth conference meet of the season and they need the win.