November 3, 2001
WC Hands Gettysburg First-Ever CC Loss
Cut Time, Relay Record Lead Charge

GETTYSBURG, PA - Today's season-opening Centennial Conference swim meet could have marked the 57th straight dual-meet league win for the Gettysburg College women's team. Instead, the Washington College Shorewomen put an end to the Bullets' all-time undefeated Centennial win streak with a narrow 103-102 victory.

To add to the historic win for Washington, one Shorewoman swimmer has already recorded an NCAA cut time and a WC relay team broke a school record. Sophomore Margaret Klag (Silver Spring, MD/Sherwood) won the 200 breaststroke in 2:28.68 for the cut time, while the 400 medley relay team finished first in the opening race in 4:07.67 to break the old record of 4:07.87 set just last season. On the record-breaking team were freshman Ana Prado (La Coruda, Spain/Tirso), Klag, junior Julie Meirs (Cream Ridge, NJ/Peddie), and junior Sarah Cooper (Wilmington, DE/Tatnall).

Junior Pam Vasquez (Tegucigalpa, Honduras/Delcampo Institute) swam to two individual first-place finishes for the Shorewomen, winning the 1000 freestyle in 11:05.72 and the 500 freestyle in 5:26.18. Washington captured first place in two other individual events; junior Rebecca Sirman (Westminster, MD/North Carroll) won the 200 backstroke in 2:17.46, while Meirs won the 200 butterfly in 2:14.17. Individual second-place finishes were turned in by Prado (50 freestyle, 25.94), Sirman (200 IM, 2:19.59), and freshman Emily Rawson (Derwood, MD/Montgomery), who touched the wall at 2:15.05 in the 200 butterfly.

Washington led 89-99 heading into the final event, the 400 freestyle relay. Two teams entered the event from each school and the Shorewoman quartet of Prado, Cooper, junior Sara Hardy (Birchrunville, PA/Owen J. Roberts), and Vasquez captured second-place in 3:47.48, which was all that WC needed to secure the meet victory.

Gettysburg had won every Centennial Conference dual meet in women's swimming since the league began sponsoring the sport for the 1993-94 season, going 7-0 each year for seven straight seasons.

The Shorewomen return to action one week from today with a 1:00 p.m. conference meet at Ursinus.

EVENT RESULTS