Swim teams go to Conference Championships

By Jensyn Hartzell
Sports Editor

The 2022 Centennial Conference Championship for men’s and women’s swimming began on Thursday, Feb. 17 and extended until Sunday, Feb. 20. Both the Washington College swim teams traveled to Lancaster, Pa. to participate.

On day one, the Shoremen made history at WC by beating the previous record for the 200 medley relay at the Championship; their time was 1:31.73. The relay team included sophomores Benjamin Wilson and Bianti Danaj, junior Gage Mandrell, and freshman Chase Hensen.

According to the WC Athletics website, the Shoremen’s time beat the previous record by two seconds. The Shoremen placed fourth overall in the race.

Freshmen Zach Affeldt and Jack Poleto, sophomore Justin Morris, and senior Nate Braddock swam the 800 freestyle relay. They ended with a time of 1:44.71 in sixth place.

On the second day of the Championship, Mandrell broke another WC record in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:53.40. Wilson, Hensen, Danaj, and Mandrell teamed up again to break their second WC record in the 400 medley relay team with a time of 3:23.05.

In addition, Wilson beat the College’s 100 backstroke record with a time of 50.58. He also participated in the 50 freestyle, ending with a time of 21.42, taking first.

The third day of the Championship saw Affeldt create another WC record in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:04.21. Wilson also had a record-breaking time of 50.49 in the 100 backstroke, placing second in the event.

The last day of the Championship, the Shoremen broke their final WC record in the 400 free relay. The team of Danaj, Hensen, Mandrell, and Wilson had a time of 3:06.75, which beat the previous time of 3:07.12.

The Shoremen ended the Conference Championship in fifth place, racking up 353 points over the course of the four days.

For the Shorewomen, the first day of the Championship saw seniors Teresa Draves, Alexa Luecke, Anna Hall, and sophomore Laurel Krause obtain their season-best time of 1:49.76 in the 200 medley relay.

Draves, Luecke, freshman Kylee Smith, and sophomore Emma Schultz also had a season-best time recorded in the 800 freestyle relay at 7:55.12.

On the second day, Smith placed first in the “B” 500 freestyle with a time of 5:15.73. Draves and Luecke participated in the 200 individual medley, recording times of 2:10.12 and 2:10.65. Sophomore Anna Miller took the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.99.

Draves made history on the third day of the Championship by breaking the WC 400 individual medley with her time of 4:40.47. According to the WC Athletics website, the previous time was 4:41.06 and was the longest-standing record for WC women’s swimming.

Sophomores Anna Miller, and Kennedy Jones, Krause, and Smith placed fifth in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:39.92.

The final day saw Draves break another College record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:23.75, beating out the old record by a single second.

Luecke, Krause, Draves, and Smith had a time of 3:37.93 in the 400 medley relay, which placed them at fifth.

The Shorewomen ended in fifth place in the overall Championship with 339 points. Both the men’s and women’s swimming team will return to swim during their 2022-23 season.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *