2008 Centennial Conference Championship Outlook
The 2008 Centennial Conference swim championships commence for the 15th time on Feb. 22-24 at the Kunkel Aquatic Center on the campus of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. Both Swarthmore swim teams will contend for the Conference championship with swimmers striving for individual and relay medals.
The Swarthmore men who currently hold a 6-4 overall and 5-1 Centennial record are looking to improve on last year’s second place Conference championship finish were they collected a total 740 points to finish behind Franklin & Marshall, while earning 17 medals. Finishing the regular season with a 6-5 overall and 4-3 Conference record, the Garnet women hope to develop on their third place finish at the 2007 championships earning 604.5 overall points and 11 medals.
A duo of freestyle swimmers to watch out for during the Conference championships are Swarthmore’s Andrew Frampton ’08 (pictured right) and Stephen Shymon ’09. The two have been competing for the top position in the middle distance 500 and the long distance 1,650 freestyle for the past two years. Frampton holds the second-fastest times on the 2007-08 Centennial top-ten lists in the 500 (4:56.61) and 1,650 (17:08.67). In last year’s championship meet Shymon, who has battled back from an early-season injury in ’07-’08 won silver medals in both the 500 and 1,650 events with times of 4:44.07 and 16:45.83 respectively. Frampton picked up the bronze medal in the 1,650 with a 16:51.94.
Junior Doug Gilchrist-Scott saw success in last year’s Centennial Championship when he earned a silver medal in the 100 backstroke, improving upon a bronze medal in the same event in 2006. He will also compete in the 50 freestyle, where he picked up a bronze medal with a time of 21.87. Gilchrist-Scott is also one of the top sprinters in the Centennial, boasting some of the top times in the 50 and 100 freestyle; the team captain earned a bronze in 2007 with a 21.87 time in the 50 freestyle.
Two freshman standouts to keep an eye on during the weekend will be Sterling Satterfield and Santiago Lombo. In his first year, Satterfield picked up five conference wins during the dual-meet season. Satterfield will compete in three events at the championship meet: the 200 IM, 100 and 200 breaststroke. During Conference dual-meets, Lombo has earned two individual wins and established himself as a key contributor on relay teams. At the championship meet he will compete in the 100 butterfly and 200 backstroke.
Senior John Heagy will compete in the 200 and 400 IM and 100 breaststroke events with high hopes of collecting medals. He holds top-ten finish times on the 2007-08 list for the Centennial. Sophomore freestyler Michael Ahn will bid for medals in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events.
The 200 free relay holds the second-fastest times on the 2007-08 Centennial top-ten lists while the 400 and 800 free relay teams ranked third. The 200 medley relay squad is in third position for the Conference while the 400 ranks fourth.
In Conference Championships last year All-America Anne Miller ’10 (pictured left) earned four medals, broke three school records and one Conference Championship record. She is slated to swim in three individual events, starting with the 500 freestyle. Last year during the championships Miller set a school-record with a finish time of 5:11.48 while picking up a bronze medal.
Three Swarthmore swimmers are projected to finish in the top five positions for the women’s 100 butterfly, including Miller, Jennie Lewis ’08 and Casey Osborn ’10. Last year at the championships, Miller earned first career gold medal school-record time of 58.21. Lewis currently owns the third-fastest time in the Centennial in 2007-’08, a 59.92 clocked at Dickinson meet on Feb. 9.
The talented Swarthmore butterflyers will look to repeat past success in the 200-yard event as well. Miller set s Centennial Championship-meet and school record in 2007 (2:06.79) and went on to Nationals to finish All-America in the 100 and 200 butterfly. Osborn and Lewis will expect to contend for a medal, holding the fourth-and fifth-fastest times in the Centennial this year.
Senior Franny Zhang, a consistent point contributor this season, is a top medal contender in the 200 IM- she posted the fourth fastest time in the Centennial in the event.
Junior Allie Jordan, a bronze-medal winner in the 200 backstroke in 2007 will be swimming in the 100 and 200 backstroke events; she took top position in the Garnet’s final meet of the regular season at Washington College with a time of 2:18.52.
The 200 free relay holds the third-fastest times on the 2007-08 Centennial top-ten lists while the 400 team ranks second. The 400 medley relay squad is in fourth position for the Conference.
CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
Official 2008 Centennial Swimming Championship website
For fans wishing to attend in person:
- Tickets
- $3 for trials, $5 for finals
- All-sessions pass $15
- Ages 12 and under, and students with College ID, will be admitted free
- Time
- Friday - 11:30 a.m. (trials)/ 7 p.m. (finals)
- Saturday/ Sunday - 10:00 a.m. (trials) / 6:30 p.m. (finals)
For fans unable to attend in person:
- Live video (provided by B2Netwroks and Franklin & Marshall, not affiliated with Swarthmore Athletics)
- Cost is $8.00 per day/ $19.99 for all six sessions
- Follow Real-Time Updates for results