COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Only about 16 hours removed from clinching their third consecutive Centennial Conference dual-meet championship, the Ursinus College women's swimming team completed its third straight undefeated regular season with a 114-65 victory over Bryn Mawr this afternoon. With the result, the Bears became only the second team in CC history to record back-to-back-to-back perfect campaigns, joining Gettysburg, which accomplished the rare feat from 1998 to 2000.
Ursinus (11-0, 7-0) stretched its dual-meet winning streak to 39 and notched its 24th conference victory in a row.
Sophomore Katherine Porter, junior Alexandra Hemp, senior Micaela Lyons, and freshman Caroline Powell were victorious in the opening 200 medley relay (1:56.92), with sophomore Olivia Tierney, freshman Peyten Lyons, junior Marisa Ferrari, and sophomore Reney Hess in second.
Senior Corinne Capodanno finished the 1000 free in 10:54.29, more than a minute and 23 seconds ahead of the runner-up swimmer, junior Catherine Wilson.
Freshman Samantha Kegel captured the 200 free (2:03.76), where freshman Katherine Madden (2:04.95) was second and Powell (2:05.08) third.
The Owls took the 50 free behind Lillian Oyen-Ustad's clocking of 25.70. Sophomore Margaret Leitz placed second in 26.34, and junior Katie Pielmeier was third in 26.77.
Freshman Clara Baker prevailed in a tight 200 IM, her mark of 2:15.19 just three-tenths of a tick ahead of sophomore teammate Sydney Gundersen. Hemp followed with a win in the 100 fly, her time of 1:01.79 a mere .13 seconds in front of Bryn Mawr's Rebecca Craig.
Freshman Gabriella Timuscuk won the 100 free in 56.22, with Hess placing second and Tierney third. Powell added another victory to her ledger in the 100 back, posting a mark of 1:06.52; freshman Julia Adams was runner-up and sophomore Rachel Weil took third.
Exhibition scoring followed, but the excitement did not end with the points for Ursinus. The last event of the regular season saw Leitz, Capodanno, Gundersen, and Peyten Lyons shatter the pool record in the 800 free relay; their time of 7:56.67 was more than 25 seconds better than the previous standard. The 'B' squad of Baker, Timuscuk, Pielmeier, and freshman Kathryn Longenecker was nearly 10 seconds ahead of the previous mark.
The Bears tune up for the Centennial Conference championships at the Franklin & Marshall Pre-Championship Invitational on Saturday, February 13.