Championship Website

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg College men's and women's swimming teams will compete at the Centennial Conference (CC) Championships this weekend. The three-day event will be held from Friday through Sunday at Franklin & Marshall College's Kunkel Aquatic Center.

Following a dual-meet season in which it finished 8-2 and placed second in the Centennial Conference standings at 6-1, the Bullet women are shooting for their fourth straight conference title. Last year, Gettysburg won the CC meet on the final event, winning by the closest margin of victory (24.5 points) in Centennial Conference women's championship meet history. The men's squad will look to improve on its third-place finish, where it has placed each of the past three seasons.

The meet features a trials and finals session each day, beginning with Friday's trials at 11:30 a.m. The meet concludes with finals on Sunday at 6 p.m.

The women's team, which has won a conference-leading 11 team titles, returns four conference medalists from last season in junior Maggie Mulderrig (Baltimore, Md./Notre Dame Prep School), senior Alex Newman (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel), junior Susannah Ferrer (Darien, Conn./Darien), and senior Patrice Boucher (Bryn Mawr, Pa./The Shipley School). Mulderrig is a 10-time conference medalist and the CC runner-up in both the 50- and 100-free last season. A six-time conference medalist, Newman took third in the 1,650-free two years ago, while Ferrer swam on the winning 800-free relay squad last season. Boucher was the bronze medalist in the 200-backstroke last year.

Six Bullets are seeded among the top-three heading into Thursday night's scratch deadline. Gettysburg boasts three individuals who own the conference's fastest time in Boucher in the 400-IM (4:44.83), freshman Cassie Close (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) in the 100-back (1:02.99), and freshman Brooke Lacey (Darien, Conn./Darien) in the 200-breast (2:29.25).

Other Bullets ranked among the top-three are Boucher in the 200-back (2:14.66) and freshman Katie Timmerman (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon) in the 200-breast (2:30.57). In addition, freshman Caroline Coolidge (South Windsor, Conn./Kingswood-Oxford) is third in the 200-free (1:58.68) and the 100-free (55.41), as is classmate Siobhan Collins (Darnestown, Md./Bullis School) in the 200-back (2:15.66).

In the relays, the Bullets are the top seed in both the 800-free relay (8:06.22) and the 400-free relay (3:43.19).

Gettysburg's men finished 5-4 in dual meets this season and placed third in the conference standings with a 4-2 CC mark. The Bullets bring back six conference medalists in junior Adam Taft (Wilton, Conn./Wilton), sophomore Tom Everett (Timonium, Md./McDonogh School), sophomore Pat McDevitt (Drexel Hill, Pa./Monsignor Bonner), junior Donald Bennett (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell), sophomore Paul Besancon (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West), and sophomore Drew Close (Berwyn, Pa./Haverford School). Taft is an eight-time conference medalist who has won the last two 200-back titles. Everett was the runner-up in the 100-fly, as was McDevitt in the 400-IM and Close in the 200-free. Bennett and Besancon each swam on relays that finished among the top-three.

The Bullets biggest threat this year, however, is sophomore Matt Libby (Freeport, Maine/Cheverus) who enters the championship as the top seed in three events and the third seed in another. Libby has clocked conference-best times in the 100-fly (52.01), the 100-back (53.47), and the 100-free (47.01) while turning in the third-best time in the 200-IM (1:58.58). He was 10-0 against Centennial Conference opponents this year.

Three other Bullets are ranked among the top-three, including Close, who is first in the 200-free (1:45.71) and second in the 100-free (48.03). Taft is ranked second in the 200-back (1:56.64) and third in the 100-back (53.81) while sophomore Roger Nawrocki (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough Regional) is third in the 100-breast (1:01.70).

The Bullets also own the conference's top time in the 400-free relay (3:11.71).

All events are subject to scratches.