CARLISLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College swimming teams got off to fantastic starts as they opened the 2016-17 season at Dickinson on Saturday. The men rolled to a 117-88 Centennial Conference victory, while the women extended their lengthy winning streaks with a 115-90 triumph.
The men's squad got two individual victories apiece from junior Marcus Wagner and freshman Jake Menzer in dominating the latest installment in a series that has traditionally been evenly matched. Ursinus and Dickinson had split their last six meetings, and two of the last three were decided by five points or less. Not this time, as Wagner continued his impressive track record in the distance events and got a big boost from Menzer in his first collegiate meet.
Wagner captured the 500 free (4:59.74) and 1000 free (10:11.24), outpacing the nearest Red Devil by at least four seconds in each heat. Menzer, meanwhile, won the 200 free by nearly three seconds with a clocking of 1:45.08 and just edged Dickinson's Alex Bennett to take the 100 free in 48.79. Fellow rookie Casey Lear was third in both races.
Sophomore Travis Venables and senior William Benn also earned individual wins for the Bears. Venables outpaced Dickinson's Kevin Potocki in the 50 free (22.33), where junior Colin McNamara (23.22) was third and freshman Jared Krawetz (23.38) fourth. Benn, a silver medalist in the 200 back at last season's CC championship, picked up right where he left off with a time of 2:00.77 that proved 0.61 ticks faster than Ben Shapiro.
Venables and Menzer teamed with Lear and senior Dylan Cooper to claim the 400 free relay in 3:18.80.
Sophomore Johnathan Myers was runner-up in the 200 fly (2:04.18) with classmate Kevin Gill (2:04.87) in third. Freshman Daniel Powell was third in the 1000 free (10:24.25), and junior Christopher Barthold placed fourth in that event and third in the 500 free.
The women, meanwhile, were dominant once again in improving their current winning streaks to 40 overall meets and 25 in CC action. Like the men, they received a strong first impression from their newcomers.
Freshman Haley Sturla won the 200 breast in 2:34.93 and combined with sophomore Peyten Lyons, junior Meggie Leitz, and junior Sydney Gundersen to take the 400 medley relay (4:04.64). Fellow rookie Margrethe Leis finished second in the 500 free (5:31.45) and combined with Leitz, sophomore Clara Baker, and senior Alexandra Hemp to dominate the 400 free relay by more than 5.50 seconds (3:42.88).
The Bears put up a 1-2-3 run in the 50 free, led by the two-time All-American Baker in 25.19. Freshman Grace Emig was second with a 25.86, and Hemp took third in 25.89. Baker also emerged victorious in the 100 free with a clocking of 54.69, nearly a second ahead of Gundersen.
Lyons owned an individual victory in the 200 IM (2:18.38), where sophomore Katherine Madden was third. Gundersen placed second in the 200 free (1:59.97) with Sturla in third, and Leitz finished runner-up in the 200 back (2:14.21); Lyons placed third. Junior Katherine Porter (2:16.12) took second in the 200 fly; sophomore Gabriella Timuscuk was third in both that event and the 200 breast. Sophomore Kathryn Longenecker managed a third-place showing in the 1000 free.
Both swimming teams continue their seasons next Friday and Saturday at the NYU Invitational.