LANCASTER, PA. - The Ursinus College Women's Swimming team enjoyed a successful weekend at the Centennial Conference Championships. The Bears claimed fourth place overall, scoring 493 total team points. All told, Ursinus came away with 8 gold medals over the four-day championships weekend and saw numerous school records be broken.
Senior Sophie Lear was named the meet's Most Outstanding Performer and First-year Melissa Leonard earned Most Outstanding Rookie Performer for the Bears. Lear and Leonard both earned three individual gold medals throughout the meet and contributed to two first-place relay races.
Lear was dominant throughout the weekend, winning gold in the 50 free, 100 free, and 200 IM. Leonard earned first place finishes in the 200 free, 500 free, and 1650 freestyle events.
Senior Liv Rachael also had an outstanding weekend racking up three top-five finishes. Rachael placed fourth in both 50 free and 100 fly and collected a fifth-place finish in the 100 free.
Junior Abigail Ferguson earned a fourth-place finish in the 400 IM with a time of 4:38.10. Ferguson's time now ranks 4th all-time in the Ursinus record books for the 400 IM. In the B-Final, first-year Katie Barlow earned a second-place finish with a time of 4:45.86. Senior Liv Rachael collected a personal best and a fourth-place finish in the 100 Butterfly event after finishing with a time of 58.20.
The 400 Freestyle relay team earned a first-place finish and their time of 3:29.48 was good enough for NCAA B-cut. The quartet of Rachael, Ro Murphy, Leonard, and Lear were just off the championship record set by Ursinus in 2019.
The Bears will look forward to NCAA Championships which will be held March 16-19 in Indianapolis, Ind.
First Place
500 Yard Freestyle: Melissa Leonard – 5:03.36
200 Yard IM: Sophie Lear – 2:06.64
50 Yard Freestyle: Sophie Lear – 23.35
200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Sophie Lear, Katie Barlow, Melissa Leonard, Liv Rachael – 1:36.23
200 Yard Freestyle: Melissa Leonard – 1:52.95
1650 Yard Freestyle: Melissa Leonard – 17:37.33
100 Yard Freestyle: Sophie Lear – 51:10 (B-Cut)
400 Yard Freestyle Relay: Liv Rachael, Ro Murphy, Melissa Leonard, Sophie Lear – 3:29.48 (B-Cut)
Third Place
200 Yard Medley Relay: Katie Barlow, Abigail Ferguson, Liv Rachael, & Sophie Lear – 1:46.49
800 Yard Freestyle Relay: Katie Barlow, Molly Stevens, Melissa Leonard, Ro Murphy – 7:52.01
400 Yard Medley Relay: Molly Stevens, Sophie Lear, Liv Rachael, Melissa Leonard – 3:53.71
Fourth Place
50 Yard Freestyle: Liv Rachael – 24.26
400 Yard IM: Abigail Ferguson – 4:38.10
100 Yard Butterfly: Liv Rachael – 58.20
Fifth Place
100 Yard Freestyle: Liv Rachael – 52.97