Bullets make waves at home invitational
Photo courtesy of gettysburg.edu. Sophomore Savannah Llewellyn holds the fastest times in the Centennial Conference in two events.
By Claire Healey, Staff Writer
The Gettysburg College swim team had an outstanding weekend at their home invitational in the Bullets Pool. Competing against the University of Mary Washington, Dickinson College, Susquehanna University, and on the women’s side, Bryn Mawr, the Bullets came away with a win for both the men and the women.
For the women, the University of Mary Washington was able to capture every relay victory, but Gettysburg’s four individual titles and incredible depth gave them a 52.5 point victory over the runner-ups, 919.5 to 867. Gettysburg and Mary Washington were able to separate themselves from the pack with Dickinson finishing third (576.5), Susquehanna barely behind in fourth (571), and finally Bryn Mawr in fifth (87).
Sophomore Savannah Llewellyn had an outstanding meet and was named the Centennial Conference swimmer of the week. She finished the meet with a first place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, a runner-up finish in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard butterfly. Llewellyn was also part of the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay, both of which placed second.
Senior captain Lea Candelmo once again had an impressive showing for the Bullets. Candelmo racked up a first place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle, a fourth place finish in the 400-yard IM, and as runner-up in the 500-yard freestyle. She also led off Gettysburg’s 800-yard freestyle relay, which placed second.
Junior Caroline Moyer led an impressive group of breaststrokers for the Bullets. Moyer came away with a win in the 100-yard breaststroke; with senior captain Marie Gingher placing fourth and first-year Sadie Stiles placing fifth. In the 200-yard breaststroke, the Bullets went 1, 2, 3 with Stiles leading the pack, Moyer placing second and Gingher followed closely at third place.
About the team’s performance, Moyer said, “I think the team swam incredible this weekend because of the time and effort we have put into this season so far. As we continue to work hard, I expect the team to improve the performances from this weekend.” Moyer and the other breaststrokers continue to dominate at every meet and hope to continue this success into conferences.
On the men’s side of the invitational, Gettysburg was able to seal their victory in the final events of the weekend. The Bullets trailed Mary Washington 827-821 going into the last two races, but were able to get the outright lead by going 1-2 in the 50-yard freestyle and winning the 400-yard medley relay following a DQ of Mary Washington’s team.
Sophomore Tyler Dougherty had a dominating weekend for the Bullets. In total he won seven events, three individual and four relays. On top of the many victories, Dougherty also captured three NCAA ‘B’ cuts, one pool record and one school record. His NCAA times came in the 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, and 50-yard freestyle. In the breaststroke, Dougherty shattered his own school record and broke the pool record set in 2012.
Gettysburg’s first-years also stepped up big throughout the weekend. First-year Jakob Hegna won a total of four events, two relays and two individual events. Francisco Nieves, another impressive first-year, won five events, and had two third place finishes. His most impressive race of the day came in the 800-yard freestyle relay, which was a battle until the very end, when Nieves ran away with the race.
Following their strong finish at the invitational, Gettysburg is now turning their attention to conference championships. “We now have our eye on the prize-conference championships. We’re definitely planning on bringing everything we’ve got and we’re very excited to show everyone what we’re made of,” Candelmo said.
Gettysburg will now take a long break from competition until Jan. 23, when they will have a home duel meet against Mary Washington.
