LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's swimming team's "Drive for Five" begins with the usual lofty expectations.
The Bears, who have captured the last four Centennial Conference championships, were chosen as unanimous favorites of the CC preseason poll released Wednesday. Ursinus received the maximum seven first-place votes and 49 points in a sampling of the league's head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own squads.
Gettysburg was second with 40 points and the other first-place ballot; the Bullets were followed by Swarthmore (37), Franklin & Marshall (31), Dickinson (25), Washington College (22), McDaniel (13), and Bryn Mawr (7).
Ursinus returns nearly all of its main contributors from a season ago, including eight all-conference selections, three NCAA qualifiers, and a pair of All-Americans in senior Meggie Leitz and junior Clara Baker.
Baker is already one of the most decorated swimmers in program history after just two years with the program. After racking up four CC gold medals in relay events and claiming first place in the 100-yard butterfly at the conference meet, she went on to place 10th in the 100 fly and 12th in the 200 fly at the NCAA Championships. Those performances gave her two more All-America laurels to add to the two she earned at the national meet a year ago. With four under her belt, she trails only Jennifer Derstine, who registered six from 1991-93, on the school's all-time charts. Derstine and Baker are the only two swimmers in Ursinus history to earn multiple All-America honors in multiple years.
Leitz made history as the first Ursinus swimmer to earn a medal in a national event with a third-place finish in the 200 fly at the NCAA Championships. She picked up a CC gold medal in the event, edging past Baker with a mark of 2:03.82, and earned silver to Baker's gold in the 100 fly in addition to swimming on the first-place 800 free relay group.
Leitz teamed with senior Sydney Gundersen, junior Kathryn Longenecker, and sophomore Haley Sturla – a bronze medalist in the 500 free – to win the 800 free relay for the Bears, who swept all 10 relay finals for the first time ever. Gundersen and junior Peyten Lyons, along with Baker, took the 200 free relay; Lyons, Baker, and Gundersen joined senior Olivia Tierney to claim the 400 medley relay; and Lyons, Tierney, Baker, and Gundersen broke a program record in the 200 medley relay. Baker, Leitz, Lyons, and Gundersen seized gold in the 400 free relay.
Lyons, the 2016 CC Most Outstanding Performer and Most Outstanding Rookie, had a hand in six gold medals and two new program records in the championship meet, winning the 200 IM in a new record time of 2:05.94 and adding another first-place finish in the 100 back (56.96). She placed second in the 200 back, marking a new school benchmark at 2:03.26, and competed in the 100 and 200 back at the NCAA Championships.
In addition to her four relay golds, Gundersen touched first in the 100 free with a clocking of 52.55 and was runner-up in both the 50 free (24.34) and 200 free (1:54.73). Tierney just missed gold in the 200 breast, landing just .14 seconds out of first with a mark of 2:23.23.
Senior Katherine Porter was a bronze medalist in both the 100 and 200 fly at the conference championship meet, and junior Gabriella Timuscuk was fifth in the 200. Junior Katherine Madden was third in the 200 IM and fourth in the 400 IM, while Longenecker and sophomore Margrethe Leis took fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 200 free.
With an already stacked lineup and the addition of a promising seven-member first-year class, expectations remain rightfully high as the Bears prepare to chase another conference crown. The journey gets underway at home against Dickinson on Saturday, October 28.
Bears Garner Preseason National Ranking
Ursinus is ranked No. 22 in the CSCAA/TYR Top-25 Preseason Poll, voted on by member coaches. The Bears are slotted third in the Northeast South preseason regional rankings. Conference rival Gettysburg is No. 10.