Swimming medals at CC championships
Claire Healey, Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of Gettysburg Athletics. The men’s swimming team earned their sixth consecutive Centennial Conference title.
The Gettysburg College swim team competed in the Centennial Conference championships over the weekend at Bullet’s pool. Both the men’s and women’s teams had some of their best performances of the season and it showed with the men winning their sixth consecutive title and the girls taking second.
The Gettysburg men swam their best meet of the season at the perfect time. They finished the meet in first by 86.5 points over runner-up Swarthmore College. During the regular season, Gettysburg went 3-3 in Centennial Conference competition, while Swarthmore went 5-1 and Washington College was undefeated. Going into the meet, it was not expected for Gettysburg to come away with the win or to do so with such a large margin of victory.
“We knew that other teams we’re going to be competitive coming into this meet, especially Swarthmore. We just got fired up. We were ready to race this weekend and here we are with our sixth title,” said senior captain Tyler Gould.
Leading the charge was sophomore Tyler Dougherty, who was named male swimmer of the meet. He finished with three individual titles and two relay victories, with NCAA ‘B’ cuts in all three of his individual events. He is the first Bullet since 2005 to be named swimmer of the meet.
Gould also put together a great meet for Gettysburg. He was part of two winning relays, as well as two runner up finishes and one third place finish.
Senior Zach Moser was also one of the veteran leaders who helped the Bullets to their fourteenth overall title. He was also part of the two winning freestyle relays and took second place in the 200 freestyle.
Going into Sunday, the Bullets only had a twenty-point lead, until the 100-yard freestyle, which is always a showing of Gettysburg’s talents. The men had five swimmers in the ‘A’ final and two more swimmers in the ‘B’ final, racking up 89 points in this event alone. This opened up an impressive lead over Swarthmore that would not diminish.
Since joining the Centennial Conference in 1994, the Gettysburg men have won 14 titles, and tied the record number of consecutive titles with six in a row. This is also the 41st title for coach Mike Rawleigh who celebrated 500 dual meet wins this season.
On the women’s side, Gettysburg still had an outstanding meet even though they placed second. The Lady Bullets went 6-1 in the conference standings, only losing to championship winner Ursinus College.
Leading the Bullets once again was senior captain Lea Candelmo who finished her collegiate swimming career in an impressive fashion. Candelmo finished with two third place finishes and one runner up title, which was also an NCAA ‘B’ cut. Her final event was the 1,650-yard freestyle, which she has medaled in all four years as a Bulle. In total she has earned ten medals for Gettysburg.
Junior Caroline Moyer also showed her continued strength over the weekend. She won her second straight title in the 100-yard breaststroke and did it with a school, conference, and meet record as well as a NCAA ‘B’ cut. She also tied for second in the 200-yard breaststroke.
Moyer led another strong pack of Gettysburg breaststrokers, with senior captain Marie Gingher placing seventh in the 200 and second in the 100. First-year Sadie Stiles had a strong first conferences by placing sixth in the 200 and fourth in the 100.
Sophomore Savannah Llewellyn had another strong conferences for Gettysburg. She placed fourth in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly, third in the 100-yard backstroke. Sophomores Nicole Farina and Kate Hegwood also had ‘A’ final finishes for the Bullets.
Gettysburg’s first-years stepped up big for the Lady Bullets with many of the them making it back for both ‘A’ and ‘B’ finals. They also showed their strength on the many relays of the weekend. Gettysburg took silver in the 200-freestyle, 400-medley, and 200-medley relays, the last of which they set a new school record in.
“That’s one of the best women’s teams I’ve had even though they were in second place. They were fantastic all year,” said head coach Mike Rawleigh.
Following the impressive conference performances from both the men and women, many Gettysburg swimmers will await the selection of who will be swimming at the NCAA Division III championships on March 16-19 in Greensboro, NC.
