By Sam Gross
Elm Staff Writer
Men’s swimming had their work cut out for them in a big meet against defending conference champions Gettysburg College. While the Shoremen lost 132-67, they still managed many seasonal or personal best times.
Starting off the meet was the 400 medley relay where the men came in second with a vastly improved time of 3:43.76, nine seconds and one place better than the past. The men’s A relay was comprised of James Ray in backstroke, Austin Auger in breaststroke, Greg Lee in butterfly, and Austin Yocum in freestyle. The men’s B relay comprised of Robby Homer, Johnny Helenek, Ross Mills, and Robby Mix. The men’s B also improved their time by shaving off a second.
The meet then proceeded with the individual events. First there was the longest event of the meet, the 1,000-yard freestyle, with both Tad Derrick and Danny Siedleck coming in at times of 11:19.51 and 12:04.88 respectively. Next was the 200 yard freestyle with both Austin Yocum and Steven Bilinski making their individual college debuts at times of 1:51.80 and 1:58.80. Junior Spencer Van Cise who swam this same event last year, managed to do three seconds better at a time of 2:00.59. After this came the shortest event of the meet, the 50 yard freestyle. Spencer Kelley made his individual college debut with a time of 23.49, and senior Ross Mills followed with a 24.43. The last event before the first break of the meet was the 200 IM with Austin Auger, Robby Mix, and Johnny Helenek coming in at times of 2:10.11, 2:14.82, and 2:18.84.3
Following the break was the 200-yard butterfly where, in his individual college debut, Greg Lee won the event with a time of 2:03.63. Following him were Steven Bilinski with a time of 2:16.94 and then Ross Mills, who, with a time of 2:19.70, improved from last year by four seconds. Spencer Kelley was the lone swimmer for the 100 yard freestyle, coming in at a time of 51.54. In the 200 backstroke James Ray swam in at a time of 2:10.40 followed by Danny Siedleck at 2:25.85. Next was another long event as Austin Yocum, Tad Derrick, and Spencer Van Cise swam the 500 yard freestyle. Yocum led the Washington College boys with a time of 5:15.62. Derrick improved his time from last year by nine seconds at 5:26.41, and Van Cise, who started his training for distance late last year, came in at a 5:29.93.
The last few events of the day comprised of the 200 yard breastroke and the 400 yard freestyle relay. In the breaststroke, Austin Auger led in a time of 2:24.07, followed by Johnny Helenek who improved his time from last year by three seconds in a time of 2:27.34 and Robby Mix at a time of 2:31.02. The relays finished strong with times of 3:24.27 and 3:45.22.
This was only the first of three meets for men’s swimming for the week. Wednesday was their “war on the shore” with Salisbury, and today is their meet against St. Mary’s. Their last event? A 7 a.m. practice on Saturday morning.