GETTYSBURG, Pa. The Gettysburg College men’s swimming team left everything in the pool in its only meet of the season against Johns Hopkins University, hitting three NCAA qualifying times and breaking a program record Friday night inside the Bullets Pool.
Gettysburg and Johns Hopkins combined for 19 NCAA qualifying times Friday night. With the NCAA Division III Swimming Championships cancelled, the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) created a set of standards for All-America consideration, prompting the Bullets and Blue Jays to go fast and furious through the lanes. Johns Hopkins also set six pool records.
Gettysburg’s national qualifying times came in the 50 free, 200 free relay, and 400 free relay. Senior Oliver Yancey (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) spearheaded an impressive showing by the Bullets in the 50 free, clocking a personal-best 20.44 to slide in under the NCAA “B” standard. Also in that race, seniors Danny Petrillo (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) and Harrison McCool (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) posted personal records at 21.13 and 21.14, respectively. Those times put Petrillo and McCool among the top 10 in program history.
Yancey played a major role in Gettysburg’s second national time leading off the 200 free relay. The senior sped through the first 50 yards in 20.20, lowering his NCAA qualifying time and marking the second-fastest 50 free in program history. Junior Sam Nonemaker (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg), senior Aedan Collins (Westfield, N.J./Westfield), and senior Jack Edelson (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Senior) followed with quick splits to close out a time of 1:21.58. Johns Hopkins also hit a national qualifying mark with a second-place effort of 1:22.64.
The Bullets’ final NCAA mark came in the 400 free relay, which was a last-minute add to the program. The same foursome who swam the 200 free relay once again took to the water with Collins leading things off before giving way to Edelson and Nonemaker. After Nonemaker helped close the gap on Johns Hopkins with a 100 split of 45.45, Yancey was quick off the blocks and overtook Dylan Wachenfeld with 50 yards to go. The Gettysburg senior’s split of 45.38 helped the team just get under the NCAA “B” cut at 3:03.24.
Junior Oliver Pickering (Millburn, N.J./Millburn) broke his own school record in the 200 fly in what was the fastest edition of that race ever seen in the Bullets Pool. Jeffrey Vitek, who broke Johns Hopkins’ record in the 100 fly earlier in the meet, blazed to an NCAA “A” standard time of 1:46.93, shattering the previous pool record by nearly two seconds. Chris Seymour finished just in front of Pickering with an NCAA “B” time of 1:51.07. Pickering hit the wall in 1:51.86, besting his previous record of 1:52.32 set two years ago at the Centennial Conference Championships.
Nonemaker turned in the program’s second-fastest time in the 200 IM at 1:52.66. He bested his previous PR in the event by four seconds. Wachenfeld won the 200 IM with a national qualifying mark of 1:51.44.
Freshman Luke McKenna (Collegeville, Pa./Spring-Ford Senior) won the 500 free with a time of 4:41.13, which put him seventh in program history. McKenna cracked the program’s top 10 in the 1,650 free with a mark of 16:16.47. That was the fourth-fastest mark by a Gettysburg swimmer.
This story was originally posted on the Gettysburg College Website.