The Elizabethtown College Blue Jays swim team started their season strong by winning the meet against Arcadia two weeks ago at Etown’s Alumni Pool. The men defeated the Knights 146-58, and the women claimed victory with a score of 119-65. As Arcadia is a Middle Atlantic Conference opponent, the meet was an important win for the Blue Jays.
The day began with the Blue Jays taking the win in both the men’s and women’s 200 relay race. The team of sophomore Megan Leary, senior Autumn Phillips, sophomore Abby Mitchell and junior Jennifer Malik (2:02.97) cruised to a six-second win in the opening event, claiming 13 of the first 17 points on the 200 yard medley. Junior Ryan Hannon, junior Shaun Martin, first-year Michael Rentschler, and junior Nathaniel VanderWerff (1:49.07) had a sixty-six second win for the men’s side.
Sophomore Kimberly Cosgrove took the women’s 1000 and 500 freestyle (5:38.94). Cosgrove, by a minute and twenty seconds, won the 1000 freestyle (11:36.19) against Arcadia’s Arielle Fry. Cosgrove felt great taking the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:38.94.
“I felt very good during my races. We have been working harder this year, swimming more yards at practice. Our assistant coach from last year is now our head coach, and he is doing a great job at giving us practices to push us and work hard,” Cosgrove said.
First-year Brittany Ricedorf won the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:16.12, and she also gained 9 points for winning the women’s 200 individual medley (2:31.07). Following her, three seconds away in both events, was Leary.
Other winners for the women’s team included first-year Rebecca Lane in the 200 free (2:08.05), Mitchell in the 100 fly (1:05.96), Leary in the 100 back (1:08.73) and the 200 freestyle relay team of junior Erika Harold, Lane, Ricedorf and Malik (1:47.65).
The Blue Jays men’s swim team captain Ryan Hannon won the 200 medley (1:49.07) and the 200 freestyle (2:01.43); helping him, three seconds away, was teammate VanderWerff scoring four more points for the Blue Jays.
“I was excited to earn points for my team, but I was disappointed in my times. I know I always can do better,” Hannon said. Hannon also gained nine points more for the Blue Jays for the 100 backstroke.
As the meet progressed, sophomore Ken Wiest won the 50 freestyle. Finishing in third and fourth were first-year Jamie Cohen and junior Chris Nelson, respectively, with a total of four points. Other wins were Shaun Martin (1:08.26) in the 100 breaststroke.
The women and men of Arcadia put up a tough competition, especially on the men’s side with Alex Ganguzza and Oliver McCormick. Arcadia won 4 out of 11 events. Tara Nuzzo tried pushing Arcadia on the women’s side, but the Blue Jays still came out on top.
Before the meet on Saturday, the Blue Jays were training extra hard, swimming longer distances, encouraging each other in high hopes of beating Lycoming and Messiah Colleges.
Last week against Messiah and Lycoming, despite the Blue Jay’s hopes of and efforts toward winning against both teams, both the men’s and women’s swim teams dropped their meets to their competitors.
For further information on last week’s meet, visit the College’s Athletic website at www.etownbluejays.com.
