The Elizabethtown College men and women’s swim teams fell to York College in their 2013-14 debuts this past Saturday afternoon. The men’s team was shut down by York early and lost the meet 121-57. The women fared slightly better, led by senior Kimberly Cosgrove, to narrowly lose 112-93. Cosgrove, who missed the 2012-13 season, won the 1000 and the 500-yard freestyle.
Etown senior Michael Rentschler placed second in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:00.33, while first-year Kieran Koehler had the third fastest time (1:04.66) in the 100-yard breaststroke. York’s Russell Stoll and Bryant Hughes each collected a pair of wins for the Spartans (2-0). Stoll was victorious in the 200-yard individual medley (2:12.91) and the 100-yard backstroke (56.93), while Hughes claimed the 200-yard free (1:50.94) and the 100-yard free (49.22). York set a pool record in the day’s opening event, the 200-yard medley relay. Stoll, Kyle Walthall, Cody Latchford and Shane Bonner stopped the clock in 1:38.39. The Spartans won the first eight events of the afternoon.
Cosgrove won the second event of the day, the 1000-yard freestyle, in 11:29.45, besting second-place Jenny Hinkle of York by more than 4.5 seconds. Blue Jay senior Megan Leppo earned third-place points with a time of 11:44.68.
Cosgrove’s win was the start of a strong effort by the Blue Jays, who won five events in total on Saturday. Sophomore Rachel Engelhardt made it two wins in a row for the Blue Jays when she outswam the competition in the 200-yard free in 2:06.04. Later, junior Becki Lane won the 100-yard free by four-tenths of a second (57.15) while sophomore Amanda Long won her first career race in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:12.76. Etown captured a 1-2 finish in the 500 free, with Cosgrove swimming 5:39.40 to win it, and Leppo posting a 5:44.81 for second. York’s women’s team got wins from Susha Stone (50 free), Lindsey Buglino (200 IM), Kelsie Pike (100 fly), Megan Murphy (100 back) and its 200-yard medley and freestyle relay teams.
Etown will host its first home meet of the season on Saturday against Arcadia University. The meet starts at 1p.m. in the Alumni Pool.