By Pat Mariboe
Senior Writer
The men’s and women’s swim teams competed in two meets shortly before Thanksgiving break, hosting Salisbury and St. Mary’s College of Maryland in non-Centennial Conference matchups. In their most recent meet, the men’s team picked up a dominant victory, as they beat Gettysburg 153-108 in a CC matchup. The women, however, lost 181-81 to the Bullets. The Shorewomen, whose start of 0-2 on the season is one of their worst starts in the past five years, looked to notch their first win of the season when they faced off against Salisbury and St. Mary’s. On the men’s side, they started off the season 2-0 and didn’t look like they were stopping anytime soon when they entered their dual meets along with the women last week.
When asked about the team’s progress so far, freshman Tyler Cummings, said, “I feel great both mentally and physically. Winning the first two meets really settled down my nerves, and beating Gettysburg, the defending Conference Champion, shows that the team is here to win.”
In their first meet of the week against long time rivals Salisbury, senior Lucas Morgan provided a spark for the Shoremen, as he picked up three individual first place finishes. Junior Pat Elliot, sophomore Cody Weiler, junior Brent Hochstein, and freshman Seth Wrigley also had first place finishes of their own in individual events. The Shoremen also managed to win both of their relays and won a decisive victory of 141-64. For the Shorewomen, they wanted to pack a punch of their own, as they were looking for their first win of the season and coach Kim Lessard’s 200th victory as a coach at Washington College. Sophomore Katie Gorman, junior Ellen Maxwell, sophomore Mackenzie Gaze, and freshman Julia Portmann helped the Shorewomen win the 800 relay and ended up breaking a pool record in the process. Maxwell, Portmann, and sophomore Jenni Clune also went on to win individual events, giving the Shorewomen their first victory of the season, 130-75.
It was a similar story for the Shoremen in their second meet of the week against St. Mary’s, as they looked to move to 4-0 on the season. Elliot and Morgan were both the standout swimmers for the Shoremen once again, as Elliot broke a school record in the 1000 relay, while Morgan also broke a school record in the 400 relay. The team then went on to win their two relay events and dominated the individual events, as they beat the Seahawks 137-67. For the Shorewomen, Portmann finished first in three freestyle individual races, while Maxwell and Clune also finished first in individual races of their own. It was an overall assertive day for the Shorewomen, as they went on to win the meet 132-73. The Shoremen improved to 4-0 on the season, while the Shorewomen picked up their first two wins of the season and now hold a 2-2 record.
Sophomore Allie Grillo is feeling confident on how her team managed to bounce back after starting the season off with two losses.
“Since the swimming seasons is one of the longest, its easy to lose focus and give up,” said Grillo. “With swimming, every little mistake hurts. You have to make those turns perfect and make your technique flawless. Working on these early in the season just gives you an advantage. I also know what to expect from the training. This team works the hardest over training trip and in December. The whole team comes back from Florida sore. As far as this season goes, I am feeling good. I know that putting in the effort and hard work know pays off in the long run.”
Both teams’ next meet take place at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Richmond, Va. on Dec. 4 and 5.