Washington College swimmers are strongly skilled, however, as a small team, WC can be at a disadvantage.
In a meet, teams may enter as many competitors as they wish so long as those competitors make the qualifying time. Therefore, a team that has numerous decent swimmers, as opposed to one team with a handful of excellent swimmers, will garner more points in the meet.
It is not to be said that Gettysburg and Swarthmore do not have excellent swimmers, however, it is to say that they do have the ability to earn more points because they have more swimmers.
Last weekend, Washington came in third overall, behind Swarthmore and Gettysburg at the Centennial Conference Championships but that does not mean the season is one that was lost.
The Shorewomen performed strongly all weekend, as they opened the meet Friday at Franklin & Marshall with a fifth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay.
Stacy Sines, Margaret Klag, Sarah Cooper and Pam Vasquez completed the race in a school record time of 1:42.36. In the 500 freestyle, Sines picked up the gold while Vasquez won the bronze.
While Washington did not continue its winning streak, nor did they win the conference title, they performed in a manner worthy of much admiration.
Together, the Men's and women's teams earned four bronze medals, six silvers and the medal count was topped of by four golds.
Sines led the medal count for the Shorewomen. She individually swam to two gold medals and one bronze medal. Sines broke the school's 50 freestyle record with her a 25.16 split in the opening leg.
In addition, she earned a medal for each of her relay appearances, one gold, one silver and one bronze. Sines captured "B Cut" times in the 200 and 500 freestyle races, her gold medal races. Two of the relays Sines swam in, the 400 medley and the 800 freestyle, made NCAA "B Cut" times as well.
Swarthmore won the meet with 707 points, followed by Gettysburg (604.5), while the Shorewomen (542.5) rounded out the top three.
Julie Meirs picked up a gold in the 100 butterfly with time of 1:00.30. Meirs also picked up a silver in the 200 butterfly and a bronze in the 200 medley relay with Vanessa Makarewicz, Klag and Sines.
Vasquez picked up three silver medals and one bronze (200, 1650, 200 relay, 500 free, respectfully). Klag earned silver in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and Samantha Shaffer earned a bronze in the 200 breaststroke.
Seven of the eight medalists will go on to compete in the NCAA "B Cut" races.
Look for the Shorewomen to be atop the standings once again, in the 2002-2003 season.
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