Gettysburg Edges Women’s Swimming

Results

LANCASTER, Pa. -- Gettysburg's women's swim team handed Franklin & Marshall its first setback inside of Centennial Conference (CC) action on Saturday. After falling behind early, the Bullets (8-2, 7-0 CC) handed the Diplomats (7-5, 6-1 CC) a 112.5-92.5 loss at McGinness Pool.

The result marks a steady improvement from last season when the Bullets won the year-end dual meet by 73 points.

F&M had the early jump with first and third place points in the 400-yard medley relay. Brittany McCabe, Samantha Sweeney, Laura Bassford and Meghan Karanian combined for a dominant win with a 4:08.02 - the fastest time recorded in the Centennial this season. The Bullets' top entry came in at 4:16.15, less than a half-second ahead of the Diplomats' "B" team, leaving F&M with a 13-4 lead after one race.

The Bullets didn't need long to tie it up. First, third and fourth place points in the 1,000-yard freestyle evened the score at 18-18. Kiera Heath swam a 10:38.98 to hold nearly 21 seconds on the field in the race. That started a four-race run that put Gettysburg ahead for good. Heath wins served as bookends on the spurt. She edged out F&M's Laura Bassford in the 200-yard I.M., making it 55.5-37.5 in favor of Gettysburg. Heath finished the afternoon with three wins. She had five seconds on the field in the 500-yard freestyle.

Bassford got the Diplomats back on a winning track with a 2:15.70 in the 200-yard butterfly. Three Diplomats scored in the race with Claire Mansbach and Emily Zacherl taking second and fourth place, respectively. Their effort cut the Bullets lead to 59.5-52.5, before Gettysburg answered back with a one-two punch in the 100-yard freestyle that proved to be the knockout blow.

F&M won half of the day's final two races. McCabe took the 200-yard backstroke in 2:10.68, giving her a full five seconds on Gettysburg's Patrice Boucher. It also reset the top time in the Centennial this season, which she had already owned. Sweeney swam a 2:32.69 in the 200-yard breaststroke for the Diplomats' final win of the day.

The Diplomats are idle until the Centennial Conference championships, which will be hosted by F&M from February 20th through the 22^nd.