Hall of Athletic Honor
A dominant freestyle specialist, Ruffennach played an indispensable role in the formative years of Gettysburg's decades-long swimming dynasty. The two-year captain twice earned All-America honors and swam to All-America honorable mention accolades four times while leading the Bullets to 43 victories and the first four of 16 consecutive conference championships.
As a freshman in 1984-85, Ruffennach announced her arrival with a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) gold medal in the 100-yard freestyle and a spot on Gettysburg's 800-yard freestyle relay squad that placed 11th at the NCAA meet. The following year, she struck MAC gold in the 100 free, 200 free and 200 free relay before garnering All-America status with the 200 and 400 medley relay teams.
In 1986-87, she won 17 individual races and defended her conference title in the 200 free. As a senior, Ruffennach made it three straight gold medals in that event at the 1988 MAC championships, helping the Bullets win their fourth straight conference title by more than 200 points. She posted three more All-America honorable mention relay performances at that year's NCAA meet and capped her collegiate career by winning the 1988 Clair B. Noerr Award as the College's top senior female athlete.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., she graduated from Gettysburg in 1988 with a degree in English.
