By Emma Hladik, Staff Writer
The men’s and women’s swimming teams ended their season in the Kunkel Aquatic Center at Franklin & Marshall College, setting new school records at the Centennial Conference Championship and placing in third and second, respectively, the weekend of Feb. 17 through 20.
The women’s team came into the Conference Championships as defending team champs from their last season in 2020. The Gettysburg men’s team won their last championship in 2018 and was looking to reclaim that title.
The women’s team took home 11 medals after the weekend concluded and rewrote several of the program’s top records. The men’s team clutched nine medals at the conferences and set two new school records. It was an overall successful weekend for the Bullets.
After the first day of the conferences, the women’s team was tied for fourth place. Mia Yancey ’25 was close to gold in the 800 free relay; however, Swarthmore College took first in the last eight-hundredths of a second, leaving Gettysburg in second place. Ava Collin ’25, Megan Wojnar ’22, and Junior Lauren Manning ’23 participated in the 800 free with Yancey. Together, they punched the wall with a time of 7:43.68, finishing with the third-best time in the program’s history. The other event that made history, via a new program record, was the 200-medley relay. They finished with 1:46.99, the fourth-fastest time ever in Bullets history. Lindsay Blake ’25, Olivia Pyott ’25, Elissa Clancy ’23, and Yancey competed in that event to get fourth place.
The men’s team finished third after the opening day of the conference championship. Sam Nonemaker ’22, Nick Cox ’23, Zac Evans ’23, and Cort Hobelmann ’25 tied the second-fastest time in school history and came in third against the other schools with a time of 1:31.31. Senior Duncan Proxmire had a personal record and fifth-fastest school record, opening the 800 free relay at 1:40:85 which put the Bullets in the lead to start. Nonemaker ’22, Hunter Sundlun ’24, and Oliver Pickering ’22 along with Proxmire finished in third with a time of 6:48.31.
After day two of the championships, the women’s team rose up to third place out of the seven other schools in the Centennial. Blake, Pyott, Annabel Gorman ’23, and Collin took silver in the 400 Medley Relay. After Saturday’s meet, Gettysburg claimed second place after bronze medal performances by the Bullets. Collin, Kosko ’22, Yancey, and Natalie Wisniewski ’24 took bronze in the 200 Free Relay.
“I have never been to a meet that had more energy or been part of a team that was more hard working and caring,” Wisniewski said. “Honestly, no matter what place we got, I am so proud of each person on our team. We came to the meet motivated and passionate, bringing so much energy to the deck.”
Megan Wojnar earned the Gettysburg women’s team only gold medal in the 200-backstroke.
Other medals awarded during the championships to the women’s team were Collin taking silver in the 100 freestyle and bronze in the 50 free. Manning finished third in the 1650 freestyle. Gorman took the bronze medal in the 200 fly. Yancey finished with a bronze medal in the 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle. Lastly, Blake took bronze in the 100-backstroke.
The men’s team took home three gold medals from the conferences. Cox won the 100-backstroke and the 200-backstroke. Proxmire won first place in the 1650 freestyle.
Proxmire also took home a silver and bronze medal in the 500 freestyle and the 200-meter freestyle. The last two silver medals awarded to the Bullets were won by Luke Mckenna ’24 and Pickering in the 1650 free and 200 free, respectively.
Overall, both the men’s and women’s teams battled hard throughout conference championship weekend, and both teams finished within the top three teams, allowing them to end their successful season on a high note.
“The overall season turned out well! We definitely accomplished a lot each individually and as a team,” Wisniewski said. “This season was unreal, but with our team being so young (mostly being freshman and sophomores), I know we are going to have a lot more to bring in the next few years!”
