Elizabethtown College Swimming News 
Back to top 2/23/2008 Gretchen Geiger posts NCAA provisional qualifying time in 200 breaststroke ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE SWIMMING Gretchen Geiger Earns NCAA Provisional Time in 200 Breaststroke at St. Mary's Invitational ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. --- Elizabethtown College junior Gretchen Geiger (Pilesgrove, NJ/Woodstown) earned an NCAA Division III provisional qualifying mark in the 200-yard breaststroke at the St. Mary's College Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Geiger completed the race in 2:25.63 to surpass the provisional qualifying mark of 2:27.11, placing her on the list of entries for the NCAA Division III Women's Swimming and Diving Championships to be held March 13-15 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Junior Chris Miller (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest), who is already provisionally qualified in the men's 100 backstroke, attempted to earn a berth in the 200 backstroke but completed the race in 2:00.13 to fall short of the standard. The men's championships will be held March 20-22 at Miami University. Back to top 2/18/2008 Swim teams to participate in bone marrow drive on April 1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Bone Marrow Drive Continues Kreider Family Quest ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The first time Alison and Randall Kreider were involved with a bone marrow drive, their parents and friends organized the event on behalf of their infant son. Although Tyler passed away before the 1999 drive took place, the Kreider family is continuing its efforts to find bone marrow donors because “that’s a part of him that lives on. We want to keep going, because we’re trying to help somebody else,” Alison said. Both coaches at Elizabethtown College, Alison and Randall have recruited members of their teams – men’s and women’s swimming and women’s volleyball -- to help plan a bone marrow drive from 4 to 8 p.m., on Tuesday, April 1, in the Event Space of the College’s Baugher Student Center. Participants will join the registry list for the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) so that their tissue type may be compared to the tissue types of thousands of patients who need transplants. With an appointment, the entire process takes about 10 minutes, according to Alison, whose husband Randall is also a system/network administrator at Elizabethtown. “After you receive information and sign a consent form, you will perform a buccal (cheek) swab on yourself,” she said. “Without an appointment, it may take up to 20 minutes.” There is no cost to prospective donors, as The Tyler G. Kreider Fund and the NMDP cover expenses. To make an appointment, contact Alison Kreider at 717-367-5751 or kreidera@etown.edu. The NMDP estimates that a marrow or blood cell transplant could benefit more than 35,000 children and adults with life-threatening diseases each year. NMDP facilitates an average of more than 200 transplants each month, with more than 2,500 transplants annually. Its registry is the largest listing of volunteer donors and cord blood units in the world. “We’re hoping to get more people on the registry to increase the odds of finding a match for someone,” Alison said. “The likelihood of being called is slim, but that’s why we need more people to be screened.” If someone is identified as a potential match for a patient, he or she undergoes more extensive testing and monitoring, in addition to counseling to prepare for the donation. “Even if you participate in this drive and are a match, there’s no obligation to donate,” Alison said. “That’s a decision you make later.” The Kreider family set up The Tyler G. Kreider Fund through the NMDP with donations from family and friends. Alison’s brother, Joseph Denlinger ‘91, donated to the fund in lieu of wedding favors when he and his wife got married in October, 2004. “Family members and friends put the money in,” Alison said, “and we felt we should use it for this purpose. We had the funding, and this is a great community in which to sponsor a drive.” This is the third bone marrow drive organized on the Elizabethtown College campus by the Kreiders, with the previous events being held in 1999 and 2005. Back to top 2/10/2008 Chris Miller wins gold in 200 backstroke to conclude MAC Championships ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE SWIMMING Elizabethtown Concludes Action at MAC Swim Championships WILKES-BARRE, Pa. --- The Elizabethtown College men's and women's swimming teams completed action at the three-day Middle Atlantic Conference championships at the Catholic Youth Center on Sunday. The Blue Jay women finished fourth out of nine schools with 413 points, while the Blue Jay men were fifth out of nine schools with 289 points. It was the women's best finish since 2000 and the second straight year that the men took fifth. For the men, junior Chris Miller (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) captured his second consecutive MAC championship in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:54.85, after winning the 100 backstroke with an NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time of 52.57 seconds on Saturday. Senior Dan McGuigan (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville) took second place in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:20.03, and senior Darren DiObilda (Coatesville, PA/Malvern Prep) was seventh in the 200 butterfly in 2:10.87. For the women, junior Gretchen Geiger (Pilesgrove, NJ/Woodstown) earned her second silver medal of the championships by finishing second in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:27.50. Junior Jenny Brizek (Sinking Spring, PA/Conrad Weiser) placed fourth in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 19:03.62, while sophomore Sara Crimmel (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) was eighth in 20:07.83. Sophomore Lindsay Riley (Berwyn, PA/Conestoga) took third in the 100 freestyle with a time of 56.14 seconds, with first-year student Stephanie Hellman (Shrewsbury, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) in fifth at 57.35 seconds. In the 400 freestyle relay, the Blue Jay quartet of Brizek, sophomore Kara Geiger (Zionsville, PA/Emmaus), Hellman and Riley took fourth in a time of 3:49.96. Albright College claimed the women's team title with 753 points, followed by Misericordia University (602 points), Lycoming College (464) and Elizabethtown. Widener University took the men's team crown with 869 points, trailed by Albright (614), Lycoming (438), Misericordia (347) and Elizabethtown. Middle Atlantic Conference Swimming Championships WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS
Back to top 2/9/2008 Chris Miller captures gold with NCAA provisional time in 100 backstroke on ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE SWIMMING Elizabethtown Continues Action at MAC Swim Championships WILKES-BARRE, Pa. --- The Elizabethtown College men's and women's swimming teams continued action at the three-day Middle Atlantic Conference championships at the Catholic Youth Center on Saturday. The Blue Jay women remain in fourth place in the nine-team field with 267 points, while the men are still in fifth place with 205 points after two days and 12 of 18 events completed. For the men, junior Chris Miller (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) won his third consecutive MAC championship in the 100 backstroke with an NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time of 52.57 seconds. Senior Dan McGuigan (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville) placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.66) and senior Darren DiObilda (Coatesville, PA/Malvern Prep) was seventh in the 100 butterfly (55.34 seconds). For the women, junior Gretchen Geiger (Pilesgrove, NJ/Woodstown) took second in the finals of the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:08.22 First-year student Stephanie Hellman (Shrewsbury, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) finished fifth in the 200 freestyle (2:06.89) followed by sophomore Kara Geiger (Zionsville, PA/Emmaus) in sixth place at 2:07.40. Junior Jenny Brizek (Sinking Spring, PA/Conrad Weiser) was fifth in the 400 individual medley (5:02.42) with first-year student Courtney Kelly (Guilford, CT/Guilford) placing seventh in 5:06.95. Sophomore Lindsay Riley (Berwyn, PA/Conestoga), who won gold in the 50 freestyle on Friday night, placed eighth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:04.51. The Blue Jay 800 freestyle relay team of Hellman, Kelly, Kara Geiger and Brizek finished third with a time of 8:30.41. Albright College leads the women's team standings with 497 points, followed by MAC newcomer Misericordia University (399 points), Lycoming College (327) and Elizabethtown. Widener University holds the edge in the men's team standings with 599 points, trailed by Albright (408), Lycoming (292), Misericordia (241) and Elizabethtown. Sunday preliminaries will begin at 10:00 a.m., with finals slated at 5:00 p.m. in six men's and six women's events. Back to top 2/8/2008 Lindsay Riley wins gold in 50 freestyle on opening day of MAC Championships ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE SWIMMING Elizabethtown Opens Action at MAC Swim Championships WILKES-BARRE, Pa. --- The Elizabethtown College men's and women's swimming teams opened action at the three-day Middle Atlantic Conference championships at the Catholic Youth Center on Friday. The Blue Jay men tallied 89 points on day one for fifth place, while the women amassed 123 points and are in fourth. Sophomore Lindsay Riley (Berwyn, PA/Conestoga) became the first Blue Jay since 2000 to win gold in the women's championships as she captured the 50-yard freestyle with a school-record time of 25.41 seconds. Riley broke the previous Etown mark of 25.44 seconds set by Julie Philips in 1987-88 and captured the first gold medal by a Blue Jay since Brooke Knepper won twice at the 2000 championships. Junior Jenny Brizek (Sinking Spring, PA/Conrad Weiser) was fifth in the 200 individual medley in 2:19.79, and sophomore Kara Geiger (Zionsville, PA/Emmaus) took eighth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:41.26. In relays, the Blue Jays claimed fourth in the 200 freestyle relay as the team of Geiger, sophomore Laura Krieger (Danville, PA/Danville), first-year student Stephanie Hellman (Shrewsbury, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) and Riley was clocked in 1:46.48. For the men, junior Chris Miller (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) took third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:50.07, while the 400 medley relay quartet of Miller, senior Dan McGuigan (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville), senior Darren DiObilda (Coatesville, PA/Malvern Prep) and sophomore Matt Drob (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) finished third in a time of 3:42.48. Back to top 2/7/2008 Elizabethtown set to compete at MAC Championships FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Elizabethtown College to Compete at MAC Swimming Championships ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- The Elizabethtown College men's and women's swimming teams will be in action at the three-day Middle Atlantic Conference Championships at the Catholic Youth Center in Wilkes-Barre, beginning Friday afternoon and concluding Sunday evening. The men's team finished fifth at last year's 10-team championship meet while the women's squad placed sixth out of 11 teams. This season, there will be competitors from eight men's and women's teams vying for gold in 13 individual and five relay events. Leading the Blue Jay men will be junior Chris Miller (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest), who was the winner of the David B. Eavenson Award as the most outstanding swimmer at last year's MAC championship meet. He is the two-time defending conference champion in the 100 backstroke and 500 freestyle as well as the reigning gold medalist in the 200 backstroke, and will contend for the gold in each event this year as well. Sophomore Matt Drob (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) will battle for a berth in the finals of the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, along with senior Dan McGuigan (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville) in the 200 breaststroke. Elizabethtown's women will be paced by junior Gretchen Geiger (Pilesgrove, NJ/Woodstown), who won silver medals in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke last year and is among the top seeds in both events. Sophomore Lindsay Riley (Berwyn, PA/Conestoga) won a bronze medal in the 50 freestyle last year and is a strong contender for finals in the 100 freestyle as well, along with junior Jenny Brizek (Sinking Spring, PA/Conrad Weiser) in the 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley and sophomore Kara Geiger (Zionsville, PA/Emmaus) in the 200 freestyle. Action begins on Friday afternoon with preliminaries at noon, with finals starting at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, prelims begin at 10:00 a.m. followed by finals at 6:00 p.m., and Sunday's schedule kicks off with preliminaries at 10:00 a.m. with finals underway at 5:00 p.m. Admission to each session is $5 for adults and $2 for students, a day pass is $8 for adults and $3 for students, and an all-session pass is $20 for adults and $8 for students. Results will be posted nightly on the MAC championships web site at http://www.lycoming.edu/athletics/08MACchampionships.htm. |
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