GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Once, twice, three times a champion: The Ursinus College women's swimming team racked up five more gold medals on Day Three and cruised to its third consecutive Centennial Conference championship, finishing the three-day competition with a total of 846 points, almost 200 clear of second-place Gettysburg.
Freshman Peyten Lyons was named the Most Outstanding Performer and Most Outstanding Rookie of the meet, becoming the first swimmer in school history to sweep the championship's major awards. Lyons joined Malena Lair Ferrari (2014) as the only Ursinus swimmers to be named Most Outstanding Performer. Over the course of the three-day event, Lyons struck gold in the 200-yard IM, the 100-yard backstroke, and the 200-yard backstroke and was part of three gold medal-winning relays (200 medley, 400 medley, 800 free).
Lyons made it two straight years in which the same swimmer collected both major championship awards – F&M's Bridget Dromerick accomplished the feat last season.
The Bears' 846 points were the third-most in CC championship history and the most since Gettysburg racked up 913 in 2008.
Gettysburg was runner-up with 659.5 points, while Franklin & Marshall (518) placed third. Dickinson (406) was fourth, followed by Swarthmore (379), Washington College (327.5), McDaniel (250), and Bryn Mawr (128).
The Bears collected 22 medals (13 gold, five silver, four bronze) on the way to joining host Gettysburg as the only schools to accomplish a CC three-peat. Ursinus pulled into a tie with Franklin & Marshall for second all-time with its third team title. Unlike its first two, which were among the three most tightly contested championships in CC history, this one required no drama.
Ursinus led the second-place Bullets by 88 points after Day One and 111 points after Day Two, and another dominating performance on Sunday ensured the end result was never in doubt.
Peyten Lyons won gold in the 200-yard backstroke, logging another NCAA B-cut time of 2:04.61 to outpace Dickinson runner-up Katie Schmidt by almost a full second. Sophomore Margaret Leitz claimed the bronze in 2:07.48. Freshman Katherine Madden placed seventh, and classmate Samantha Kegel was second in the B finals.
Seniors Micaela Lyons and Corinne Capodanno went stroke for stroke in the 100-yard freestyle finals, and when the bubbles settled, Lyons had captured the gold medal by a hundredth of a second. Her time of 52.60 just edged Capodanno and Dickinson's Caitlin Klockner (52.72). Sophomore Sydney Gundersen and freshman Clara Baker tied for fifth with matching times of 53.32, and junior Alexandra Hemp was first to finish in the B finals.
Sophomore Olivia Tierney defended her 200-yard breaststroke crown with a B-cut clocking of 2:22.96, while freshman Gabriella Timuscuk landed in eighth place overall.
The Bears swept the podium in the 200-yard butterfly. Leitz took gold in 2:06.20, with sophomore Katherine Porter (2:07.76) claiming silver and junior Katie Pielmeier (2:09.09) winning the bronze.
Capodanno, Gundersen, Baker, and Peyten Lyons made it five consecutive golds for Ursinus with a dominating victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay, recording a time of 3:31.55 to beat Washington College's runner-up grouping by exactly four seconds.
Porter broke a school record with an NCAA B-cut time of 2:06.15 in the 200-yard butterfly prelims, and Leitz also logged a B-cut to place third in 2:06.49. Timuscuk's 2:27.15 in the 200 back prelims placed her second on the program's all-time list.
Peyten Lyons won the 200-yard backstroke prelims in 2:05.07, good for second all-time at Ursinus, with Leitz placing third on the strength of the program's third-best mark (2:07.53). Madden qualified for the finals with a sixth-place showing on a time of 2:09.03, good for fourth in school history.
