Gators Drop Dual-Meet Openers to Clarion

Oct 24, 2007

Results
Team Scores

MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny College swimming & diving squads fell in their dual-meet season openers on Wednesday evening to the Clarion University Golden Eagles, with the women falling 131-111 and the men 139.5-96.5.

The Gators picked up 10 first place finishes among the genders, led by freshman Ashley Whitehead’s (Meadville, Pa./Meadville Area) three wins, two in individual events; the 50- and 100-yard freestyles; while also swimming a leg on the winning 200 medley relay team with Carolyn Nairn (Lubbock, Texas/Brownell-Talbot), Erin Ham (Franklin, Pa./Franklin Area) and Katie Scherry (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River).

The Gators got the meet started on the right foot with the medley relay in a time of 1:52.20, before Megan Knox (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) took top honors in the 1,000 freestyle, touching the wall in a time of 11:20.93. Nairn gave the Gators three wins in as many events, winning the 200 freestyle in a time of 2:00.00.

Whitehead followed with the first individual victory of her young career, topping all competitors in the 50 freestyle in a time of 24.67, .21 off of the NCAA “B” cut in the event and just over a half second from the Allegheny College school record held by Cynthia Kangos (24.10 in 1990). The Gators followed with a second-place finish from Ham in the 200 individual medley, with the 2006-07 All-American touching the wall in a time of 2:23.87. After the diving break, Scherry took second in the 100 butterfly, finishing in a time of 1:01.43 before Whitehead won her second individual event, the 100 freestyle, edging out her Clarion counterpart with a time of 55.63.

Nairn took second in the 500 freestyle, ending a streak of 22 consecutive wins in dual-meet competition, totaling over one calendar year, touching the wall in a time of 5:27.76, three seconds off of the first-place finisher. Ham took second in the 100 breaststroke, the event she earned All-America honors in a season ago, finishing in a time of 1:10.02, just three seconds off of the “B” standard, and faster than her first try at the event last season on November 11.

The 200 freestyle relay team of Megan McGuire (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic), Tara Stein (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills), Gina Major (Copley, Ohio/Copley) and Andrea Chamberlain (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Vally) took second in a time of 1:47.79.

The men got their first victory of the evening when Ashton Kinney (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley Academy) touched the wall first in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 11:00.42. Ryan Lawrence (Union City, Pa./Union City) won his first of two events, taking top honors in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:50.59. Colin Gundling (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) followed with a first-place finish in the 50 freestyle, touching the wall in 23.17, over a second ahead of the next finisher.

Josh Sesek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) finished second in the next event, the 200 individual medley, falling by just over a half-second, touching the wall in a time of 2:06.67. During the diving break, senior Jayson Loeffert (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) took first in the 1-meter dive competition, finishing with 203.10, three more points than his nearest competitor on the low board.

Gundling was unable to win the sprinting double, falling in the 100 freestyle and touching the wall in 51.71. Lawrence took second in the 500 freestyle, finishing in a time of 5:25.45, while Loeffert took second off of the high-board, scoring 233.70 during the three-meter competition. Sesek ended the individual portion of the meet with a second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:03.71.

The Gators next take to the pool on Friday, November 2, when they travel south to New Wilmington, Pa., where they will compete against Westminster College at 6:00 p.m. before traveling north the next day for a 1:00 p.m. meet at Gannon University.

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