LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's swimming team was picked to finish sixth in the Centennial Conference preseason poll. The Bears received 16 votes in a sampling of the league's coaches.
Six-time defending conference champion Gettysburg is the favorite to claim another crown, as the Bullets collected six first-place votes and 36 total points. Swarthmore got the remaining first-place ballot and was second with 31 points. The Garnet were succeeded in the poll by Washington College (26), Franklin & Marshall (17), Ursinus (16), Dickinson (15), and McDaniel (6).
The Bears placed sixth at last season's CC championship meet, ending a run of four consecutive top-four finishes. Ursinus brings back one all-conference performer in senior William Benn, who garnered a silver medal in the 200-yard backstroke in addition to a bronze medal in the 100 back. Benn holds school records in both events.
Senior Marcus Wagner will also play a large role for Ursinus this season. Wagner placed third in the 500 free at the conference championship meet and is the program record-holder in the 500 free (4:39.11), 1000 free (9:45.72), and 1650 free (16:16.17).
Senior Dylan Cooper, junior Colin McNamara, and sophomore Travis Venables established a new program record in the 200 free relay (1:25.71) last season. McNamara touched the wall in fifth in the 200 butterfly and eighth in the 100 butterfly at the CC championships.
Other Bear returnees who earned points at the CC meet include sophomores Johnathan Myers, Reid Luksic, Devin Nielsen, Kevin Gill, and Maxwell Coulter; and senior Spencer Collopy.
The men's swimming team opens the 2016-17 campaign with a CC meet at Dickinson on Saturday, October 29.