Swimming Info:
2008-09 Elizabethtown College Men's Swimming Preview
Under new head coach Dan DeHass, the men’s swimming team of Elizabethtown College would like to see improvement over its fifth place finish at the MAC Championships for the second year in a row.
The task will be difficult with only six available swimmers but the Jays will be up for the challenge. Leading the way and two years removed from the David B. Eavenson Award as the MAC”s most outstanding male swimmer will be senior Chris Miller (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest).
Miller is the three-time defending champion in the 100 back, posting an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 52.57 seconds last year in the MAC championships. Miller also went on to win the 200 back for the second year in a row at the MAC finals, with a blazing time of 1:54.85. Miller also won the bronze model in the 500 freestyle, another one of his strong events.
Also returning for the Blue Jays will be junior captain Matt Drob (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) and sophomore captain Tom Hagerty (Enola, PA/East Pennsboro).
Drob posted his best time of the year in the 100 free at the MAC championships in February with a time of 50.56 and hopes to better that mark this year. With 10 first place finishes last year, Drob will be hungry to best that mark.
Hagerty was the team’s most improved swimmer from last year, as he swam to a time of 1:57.37 in the 200 free at the MAC championships, cutting 11 seconds off his time from the first swim meet of the season. Hagerty also saved his best swimming for last in the 500 free, as he shaved 34 seconds off his time from back at the start of the season to clock in at 5:23.55 at the MAC championships.
Other returnees include juniors Dan Provence (Brookhaven, PA/Penncrest) and Kevin Smedman (Ft. Montgomery, NY/ James I. O’Neill). They will look to add depth along with the only newcomer of the men’s team, first-year swimmer Dan Bolstein (Maple Glen, PA/Hatboro-Horsham).
2008-09 Elizabethtown College Women's Swimming Preview
With new coach Dan DeHass in charge, the Blue Jays want to better their 4th place finish at the MAC Championships, their best showing since 2000.
Leading the Blue Jays once again will be senior captain Gretchen Geiger (Pilesgrove, NJ/Woodstown) and junior Lindsay Riley (Berwyn, PA/Conestoga).
Geiger is a two-sport athlete at Elizabethtown and her presence is missed until soccer season is over. Last year, Geiger took second in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes at the MAC championship, and then provisionally qualified for the 200 breaststroke at a meet at St. Mary’s (Md.) College.
Riley would love to repeat her success last year, as she became the first Blue Jay to win an individual gold medal since 2000. Riley won the gold in the 50 free with a time of 25.41, good enough to break the former school record set by Julie Phillips in the 1987-88 season. Riley didn’t stop there as she took the bronze medal in the 100 freestyle with a season best time of 56.14 seconds.
Other notable returners will be senior Jenny Brizek (Sinking Spring, PA/Conrad Weiser), who showed off her swimming skills with a 4th place finish in the 1650 freestyle at the MAC championships, and sophomore Stephanie Hellman (Shrewsbury, NJ/Red Bank Catholic), who took fifth in both the 100 and 200 freestyle as a first-year student.
Junior Kara Geiger (Zionsville, PA/Emmaus) comes back this year, hoping to better her sixth place finish in the 200 freestyle and 8th in the 500 freestyle.
Seniors Sarah Berry (Walnutport, PA/Northampton) and Laura Quigley (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) juniors Danielle Hopkins (Franklin, MA/Franklin) and Sara Crimmel (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) and sophomores Rebecca Rose (Fort Washington, PA/Upper Dublin) and Courtney Kelly (Guilford, CT/Guilford) all return to provide depth and experience to the women’s swim team.
New to the team this year will be four first-year students, all hoping to make their mark on the Elizabethtown swimming squad for years to come. They are Amanda Martin (Lincoln University, PA/Avon Grove), Chelsea Mitchell (New Lisbon, NJ/Pemberton Twp.), Emily Robinson (Columbia, PA/Lancaster Catholic) and Julie Strulson (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury).
-by Mike Behounek '11
