Athletics News

The Garnet (0-1 overall) hosted Division I Colgate Raiders (NY) Saturday afternoon and lost 5-2 in the Michael Mullan Tennis Center.

Swarthmore's No. 1 singles player Zach Rodd '06, ranked fourth in the region, defeated Colgate's Chris Innes in two straight sets. Rodd exhausted Innes in the first set, winning 7-5. By the second set Innes was too tired to get back on track, losing to Rodd 6-0.

J.J. England '09, playing at No.6 singles, strategically outplayed his opponent Matthew McCormick in the first set, winning 6-3. England was not prepared for McCormick to bounce back from the loss with such force. McCormick's comeback (0-6) took the pair to a third set in which England recovered to win 6-2.

Swarthmore will host St. Joseph's (PA) next Sunday, February 19. The match commences at 2:00pm in the Mullan Center.

Complete Results

SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Gettysburg post Jen Bengel scored a career-high 34 points to lead the Bullets past Swarthmore 71-57 on Saturday afternoon. Garnet senior guard Jen Stevenson tallied a career-high 21 points in front of a crowd of 141 at Tarble Pavillion.

The Bullets (15-8, 12-4 CC) jumped out a quick 3-0 lead when junior Kathryne Reilly hit a three-pointer to open scoring. She and Bengel combine for the 15 of the first 20 Gettysburg points as the Bullets built a 13-point lead, 20-7, seven minutes into the game.

Swarthmore came within five, 33-28, with 1:49 left in the first half. Debbie Farrelly stole the ball and converted on a trey on the other end. Gettysburg refocused their efforts and stretched the lead to seven, 37-30, going into the break.

The first half was marred by sloppy play on both ends of the court, as Swarthmore and Gettysburg combined for 17 turnovers.

Stevenson was a bright spot for the Garnet in the first half, shooting 6-8 from the floor, including 2-2 from behind the arc, and grabbing 14 points before the halfway mark. The senior captain also dominated the boards for Swarthmore, leading the team with four rebounds.

Bengel, the leading scorer in the Centennial Conference with 18.7 ppg., shot 6-8 from the field and a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe to lead the Bullets with 18 at the break. Reilly added nine points while Bengel and sophomore guard Megan Hartman each totaled five boards.

Gettysburg shot 52% from the floor in the first half (57% for the game) and went 9-10 from the free throw, but the Garnet kept the game close with 4-of- 9 shooting from downtown.

The second half looked much like first as the Bullets maintained a double-digit lead throughout. Gettysburg built their most significant lead of the game, 59-39, with 11:24 remaining. Swarthmore fought back and cut the lead to 11 on a fast-break layup from sophomore guard Laura Popovics, but the Garnet came no closer.

Stevenson added six rebounds to her 21 points and Farrelly contributed 11 points and four steals for the Garnet.

Gettysburg went 14-18 from the line, including 9-9 from Bengel. Reilly and Jamie Marshall added 14 and 15 points, respectively while Hartman closed the game with seven boards.

Swarthmore's record falls to 9-14, 5-12 in the conference. The women will travel to Washington College for their final road game on Wednesday, February 14th. Tip-off time is 7:00 p.m.

Box Score

Junior Vernon Chaplin erased one of the longest standing Swarthmore track and field records at the Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University this past weekend.

Chaplin ran the indoor mile in a time of 4:19.15 to wipe out the old mark (4:19.3) set by Gil Kemp '72. It is also Chaplin's personal-best mile, indoor or outdoor.

Ross Weller '08 also set a personal-best in the 3000 meter run, circling the track in a time of 8:55.59. That time is good for seventh all-time.

Senior Adam Hunt ran in the same indoor mile as Chaplin and set his own personal-best with at time of 4:27.48. Senior Paul Thibodeau was the final Garnet runner, cruising 800 meters in 2:00.

Many of the Garnet runners will head to Haverford on Monday, Feb. 13 for the Haverford Quad and then return to the Main Line on Sunday, Feb. 19 to run in the Haverford Keogh Invite at 12:00 p.m.

 SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Swarthmore hung tough for a half but couldn't keep up with the visiting Gettysburg Bullets in the second period and fell 67-50 on a snowy Saturday afternoon.

The Bullets (14-9, 10-6 CC) used 31 seconds on their first possession, setting the tone for what would be a grind-it-out first half. Swarthmore (4-19, 3-13 CC) clamped down on defense early on, holding the visitors to only seven points in the first nine minutes. Gettysburg needed a spark, and got one from sixth man Erik Fromm. The senior forward was consistently able to get position in the post and converted five of seven first-half attempts from the field to lead the Bullets with 10 points at the break.

On the Swarthmore offensive end, forward Steve Wolf '08 and guard Matt Kurman '08 combined to score the first 18 Garnet points. Wolf was able to get into the lane, draw fouls, and score from the stripe; he made five of seven from the line and finished with 11 first-half points. Kurman nailed a pair of early three-pointers on his way to eight early points. Michael Bonesteel '08 provided energy off the bench and grabbed eight first-period rebounds.

The Bullets shot 44.0% from the field in the first half and held the Garnet to just 29.2% shooting. Fromm and center Brian Sateja did a good job on Swarthmore's leading scorer, Ian McCormick '08, holding the forward to just one first-half bucket.

Swarthmore went on a run to start the second half and took their last lead, 32-31 on a McCormick layup with 15:43 to play.. Once again, though, Fromm got the Bullet offense going, hitting layups on his first two trips down the court and capping a 10-0 run with another layup to give Gettysburg a 41-32 lead. The Garnet fought back, but missed several three-pointers that could have cut into the lead.

Playing without starting guard Noam Fliegelman '08 and forward Mark Rohde '07 and having lost Jon Tundel '09 to injury in the first half, the Garnet were shorthanded, and it started to show late in the second period. Up by nine with 10:25 to play, the Bullets went on a 17-4 run to put the game away. Forward Julius Redd capped the streak with a conventional three-point play with 4:22 to play.

Fromm finished with 20 points in just 24 minutes to lead the visitors. Dan Capkin added 15 off the bench and Mike Spadafora added 10. The Bullets shot 49.1% from the floor. Sateja and Joe Spierenburg tied for the team lead with six rebounds. Spierenburg swatted four shots on the defensive end.

Kurman led the Garnet with 18 points. Wolf (11) and McCormick (10) also finished in double figures. Bonesteel did not grab a rebound in limited second-half action but still led the team with a career-high eight boards.

The Garnet return to action on Wednesday night in Chestertown, Md., facing Washington College at 7:00 p.m.

Box Score

SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Swarthmore joined hundreds of other schools and community groups in celebration of the 20th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Read the rest of this entry »

Senior Emily Wistar continued to post lower times, running the fourth-fastest mile in school history at the Valentine Invite hosted by Boston Unversity.

Wistar circled the track in a time of 5:20.14, a personal-best, sliding ahead of classmate Carrie Ritter's time set just one week ago.

Many of the Garnet runners will head to Haverford on Monday, Feb. 13 for the Haverford Quad and then return to the Main Line on Sunday, Feb. 19 to run in the Haverford Keogh Invite at 12:00 p.m.

LANCASTER, Pa. - Diplomats freshman guard Sarah Meisenberg dribbled the length of the court and hit a twisting lay-up to send home-standing Franklin & Marshall to a 68-66 Centennial win over Swarthmore (9-12, 5-10 CC) in the Mayser Center on Thursday evening.

F&M (8-14, 5-9 CC) led 58-46 with 8:02 remaining in the game before the Garnet ticked off a 20-8 run, tying the game at 66-all when Swarthmore sophomore post Karen Berk finished a post move in transition at 1:24.

The teams traded missed baskets with the Diplomats calling a time-out with 32.6 seconds on the clock and 12 ticks left on the shot clock. F&M missed a jump shot and Swarthmore controlled the rebound. The Garnet worked to get the ball in the hands of Berk, finally succeeding with 12 seconds left. Berk made a move down the lane but a double-team forced her to lose her balance. As Berk was falling, she attempted to hit senior guard Jen Stevenson in the corner. The pass sailed wide and out of bounds with possession going to the Diplomats, thus setting up Misenberg's last-second heroics.

The game had many similarities to a F&M-Swarthmore contest in Tarble Pavilion on January 13, 2004. The Garnet held a 20-point lead in the second half before the Diplomats came roaring back to take the lead, 64-63 with 10.1 seconds remaining following a pair of Johns free throws. Swarthmore forward Zoey Adams-Deutsch '06 weaved up court with the final seconds ticking and found forward Ali Wolff '05 under the basket for the game-winning lay-up as the horn sounded.

In this contest, the two teams battled back and forth in the first half, with Swarthmore taking a 27-25 lead into the locker room at the intermission.

The Diplomats were the aggressor to start the second half, out-scoring Swarthmore 15-4 in the first 4:54.

Berk led the Garnet with a season-high 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the floor and a perfect 5-of-5 from free throw line. Senior guard Debbie Farrelly chipped in 11 points while Stevenson added nine points. Senior forward Cara Tigue corralled a game-high 11 rebounds while Berk grabbed nine boards.

Meisenberg led F&M with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting while guards Dana Johns and Christy Strunk added 13 points and 12 points, respectively.

Swarthmore returns to Tarble Pavilion this Saturday, February 11, hosting Centennial rival Gettysburg College at 2:00 p.m.

Box Score

CHESTERTOWN, Md. -- Sophomore Andrew Frampton and junior Jason Horowitz were triple-winners as the Swarthmore men (4-6, 4-2 CC) won the final Centennial dual meet of the season, defeating Washington (Md.) 122-81 on Wednesday evening.

Frampton breezed to a win in the 1000 yard freestyle, turning in a time of 10:08.53. It was the second-fastest 1000 swam in the Centennial this season and the second-best in school history. Frampton followed that performance up with a victory in the 200 butterfly (2:11.17) and swam the lead leg on the winning 400 yard freestyle relay team. Andrew Koczo '07, Horowitz, and Stephen Shymon '09 picked up the three remaining legs as the Garnet won in a time of 3:26.08.

Horowitz combined with Douglas Gilchrist-Scott '09, Koczo, and Jonathan Augat '07 to win the opening event, the 200 yard medley relay, in a time of 1:40.70 The junior then took top honors in the 200 yard backstroke, finishing in a time of 2:05.46.

Gilchrist-Scott also won an individual event, the 50 yard freestyle, in a time of 23.13. Shymon continued to swim strong times in the 500 free, winning the race in a time of 4:54.77.

The Garnet will spend the next week preparing for the 2006 Centennial Conference Championship Meet, which will take place in Lancaster, Pa. on February 17-19.

Complete Results

CHESTERTOWN, Md. -- Sophomore Franny Zhang and junior Sarah Cotcamp won three events apiece as the Garnet won for the fourth time in five meets, defeating Washington College 113-92 on Wednesday night in the final Centennial dual meet of the season in Chestertown, Md.

Zhang roared to victory in the 200 yard IM, swimming her second fastest time (2:14.74). The time is also the fourth-fastest in the Centennial this season and in school history. The sophomore opened the evening by combining with Martyna Pospieszalska '06, Michele Hom '07, and Jennie Lewis '08 to easily win the 400 yard medley relay in a time of 4:09.50. Zhang completed the evening by teaming with Pospieszalska, Cotcamp, and senior Patricia Funk to win the 400 yard freestyle relay in a time of 3:47.33.

Cotcamp controlled the short-distance freestyle events, winning both the 50 yard (25.30) and the 100 yard (55.46) races. Whitney Nekoba '08 took over the long-distance events, finishing first in the 500 yard free (5:28.26) and the 1000 yard free (11:15.98).

The Garnet winning continued with Lewis, who swam a personal-best 2:13.53 in winning the 200 yard butterfly. That time is the fourth-fastest in school history and third-fastest recorded in the CC this season.

The Garnet will spend the next week preparing for the 2006 Centennial Conference Championship Meet, which will take place in Lancaster, Pa. on February 17-19.

Complete Results

SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Muhlenberg scored 16 of the game's first 18 points and never looked back, defeating the Garnet 95-43 in Tarble Pavilion on Wednesday night.

The Mules shot 54.3% from the floor, including a school-record 14-22 from beyond the arc.

Junior guard Tom Scott and junior forward Jeff Stewart led the way early for the Mules (12-10, 7-8 CC), scoring a combined 15 points in the first five minutes of play. The Garnet (4-18, 3-12 CC) had a tough time getting untracked offensively. Stewart and senior Jimmy O'Brien played strong defense on Garnet forwards Ian McCormick '08 and Steve Wolf '06 in the paint, and the Swarthmore shooters were having trouble getting open looks.

Swarthmore tried several combinations of personnel in the half, but nothing could cool off the Mules. The Garnet went on a mini-run to cut the lead to 32-16 with 7:03 to play, but scored only two of the final 19 points of the half. Even the 235-pound Stewart would hit from behind the long-distance arc, nailing a three-pointer late in the period. Muhlenberg entered the locker room with a 51-18 lead at intermission.

Scott earned a first-half double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Stewart added 14 points, while Wolf led the Garnet with seven. As a team, the Mules shot 61.8% from the floor and went 8-12 (66.7%) from three point land.

The Mules continued to pour it on in the second half, building a 40-point lead with 15:34 to play. Starters from both teams exited the game, but the Muhlenberg shots continued to fall. Reserve guard Chris Pothering hit three from beyond the arc in just 10 minutes of action. All 16 Muhlenberg players and all 13 Garnet would see action. Raul Ordonez '09 took advantage of his time on the floor by grabbing a team-leading five rebounds.

Scott led all players with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists, picking up his first career double-double. Wolf paced the Garnet with 15 points; McCormick added nine.

Muhlenberg held a decisive edge on the boards, out-rebounding Swarthmore 48-34. The Garnet were held to 28.1% from the field.

Swarthmore will look to end its current six-game losing streak this coming Saturday. The Garnet host conference-foe Gettysburg at 4:00 p.m.

Box Score