The Shippensburg University women’s swimming team continued its three-day weekend at Franklin & Marshall on Saturday and sits in seventh place in the team standings through two days of competition at the Kunkel Aquatic Center.
A number of Raiders delivered solid performances, but the highlight was a victory in the 400-yard individual medley (IM) by junior Alyssa Tomb (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford), who impressed for the second straight day. Tomb delivered an historic time of 4:33.69 that is a new PR by four seconds and ranks fourth in school history for the event.
Four Raiders reached championship ‘A’ finals on Saturday, with sophomore Allie Keeling (Redlands, Cal./Redlands) nabbing a Top 5 finish in the 200-yard freestyle. Keeling’s fifth-place time of 1:56.24 was an improvement of more than a second from her morning prelim.
Junior Michaela Hersh (Mertztown, Pa./Brandywine Heights) and freshman Lana Brown (Oley, Pa./Oley) reached the championship final of the 100-yard backstroke. Hersh broke 60 seconds in both of her swims, finishing sixth in the final with a time of 59.19 seconds. Brown swam 1:00.80 at night after swimming 1:00.30 in the morning.
Four Raiders reached finals in both the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard breaststroke. Rounding out the Top 20 finishers in the backstroke were juniors Marissa Bittner (Middletown, Del./Appoquinimink) and Sammy Taylor (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty). Bittner swam 13th in 1:00.77, while Taylor was 14th in 1:00.80.
Sophomore Emily Newton (Summit Hill, Pa./Panther Valley) paced SU in the 100-yard breaststroke, placing 15th with a consolation finals time of 1:09.04. Fellow sophomore Lauren Croll (Honolulu, Hawaii/President Theodore Roosevelt) won the pre-consolation final with a time of 1:09.19. Freshman Emma Grove (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg Area) and junior Lexington Wagner (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) also scored in the event, with Grove finishing 21st and Wagner taking 24th. Wagner’s morning prelim time was 1:10.92, which is within a second of her lifetime best.
Joining Tomb as scorers in the 400-yard IM were sophomore Gracie Wetzel (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) and freshman Jenna Ober (Lititz, Pa./Warwick). Wetzel delivered a sturdy debut in the event, placing 18th with a pre-consolation finals time of 4:48.30, while Ober took 24th in 5:03.71 after swimming 5:02.95 in the morning.
Other Raider scorers included sophomore Kristin Gebhard (Reading, Pa./Twin Valley) and junior Rachel Johnston (Lexington Park, Md./Leonardtown) finishing 20th and 21st respectively in the 100-yard butterfly and senior Marina Cote (Papillion, Neb./Daniel J. Gross) placing 22nd in the 200-yard freestyle.
Brown, Newton, Gebhard and Croll combined to swim the 200-yard medley relay in 1:52.59.
Sunday’s prelims begin at 10 a.m., with finals set for a 6 p.m. start.
200 Medley Relay
Lana Brown, Emily Newton, Kristin Gebhard, Lauren Croll 1:52.59
Michaela Hersh, Lexington Wagner, Marissa Bittner, Grace Reagan 1:54.87
Langley Brockway, Emma Grove, Sammy Taylor, Brenna White 1:58.51x
800 Free Relay
No entries
400 IM
1. Alyssa Tomb 4:33.69 (4:37.71p) (PSAC) [4th in SU history]
18. Gracie Wetzel 4:48.30 (4:52.04p) (PSAC)
24. Jenna Ober 5:03.71 (5:02.95p)
100 Fly
20. Kristin Gebhard 1:01.96 (1:02.93p)
21. Rachel Johnston 1:02.01 (1:03.81p)
Grace Reagan 1:05.28
Gwendolyn Elsey 1:07.92
Maddi Dzurko 1:09.81
Manisha Kapoor 1:13.86
200 Free
5. Allie Keeling 1:56.24 (1:57.33p) (PSAC)
22. Marina Cote 2:01.10 (2:01.50p) (PSAC)
Jordyn Kendig 2:08.20
Riley Weller 2:16.74
100 Breast
15. Emily Newton 1:09.04 (1:09.34p) (PSAC)
17. Lauren Croll 1:09.19 (1:10.21p) (PSAC)
21. Emma Grove 1:11.79 (1:11.44p)
24. Lexington Wagner 1:13.10 (1:10.92p) (PSAC)
Brenna White 1:14.87
Gracie Wetzel 1:10.03x
Jenna Ober 1:11.98x
Kristin Gebhard 1:13.68x
100 Back
6. Michaela Hersh 59.19 (59.88p) (PSAC)
8. Lana Brown 1:00.80 (1:00.30p) (PSAC)
13. Marissa Bittner 1:00.77 (1:00.95p) (PSAC)
14. Sammy Taylor 1:00.80 (1:01.74p) (PSAC)
Langley Brockway 1:03.93
Manisha Kapoor 1:10.75
Maddi Dzurko 1:12.16
Grace Reagan 1:03.96x
Emma Grove 1:08.33x
