The Gettysburg College men’s swimming team will look to reclaim the Centennial Conference championship against a talented group of programs beginning on Thursday, Feb. 20, inside the Bullets Pool.
Media Coverage
The 2020 Centennial Conference Swimming Championship will feature live video and live results for all seven sessions of competition. The meet will also be streamed to the TVs located in the John F. Jaeger Center for Athletics, Recreation and Fitness lobby. Additional information regarding tickets and local dining can be found on the championship website: https://gettysburgsports.com/2020ccswimchamps.
Schedule
The event will begin Thursday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. Each of the next two days will feature two sessions with preliminary swims at 10 a.m. and the finals at 6 p.m. Sunday’s prelims also begin at 10 a.m. and the final session will begin at 6 p.m. There will be a total of 36 events. A complete schedule of events can be found on the championship website.
Home Sweet Home
The CC Championship returns to the Bullets Pool for the sixth time. Gettysburg hosted the event in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2019. The natatorium, which opened in 2010, features eight competition lanes and eight warm-up lanes with a spectator gallery seating over 400 people.
Championship History
Gettysburg owns more Centennial titles (15) than any other institution. The Bullets have had two separate streaks of six titles and have won four of the five championship events held at the Bullets Pool. After finishing runner-up in 2016, Swarthmore claimed its first conference title in 2017 and reclaimed the crown in 2019. The only other school to claim a CC title is Franklin & Marshall College, which secured the last of its eight titles in 2010.
Last Season’s Championship Meet
Swarthmore claimed the title for the second time in three seasons with 845.5 points. Gettysburg finished second with 630 and Franklin & Marshall was third at 543. The Garnet swept the conference’s major awards with Jeff Tse earning Most Outstanding Performer, Jeremy Rockaway earning Outstanding Rookie Performer, and Karin Colby taking home Coach of the Year. Swarthmore won a total of 10 events, while F&M claimed top honors in six races. Sophomore Oliver Pickering (Millburn, N.J./Millburn) was Gettysburg’s lone All-CC rep after finishing second in the 200 fly with a program-record time of 1:52.32. The Bullets narrowly missed all-conference honors with third-place finishes in five events, including three relay races.
All-Conference Performers
Outside of Pickering last season, seven other Bullets have claimed all-conference recognition in the past. Senior Adam Dias (Wilmington, Del./Charter School of Wilmington) won the 200 breaststroke in 2017, while senior Jeff Ragatz (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) and juniors Aedan Collins (Westfield, N.J./Westfield), Danny Petrillo (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan), and Jack Edelson (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Senior) were members of all-conference relays in 2018. Both senior Josh Parker (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills) and junior Duncan Proxmire (McLean, Va./Langley) are past silver medalists in the 1,650 free.
Gettysburg’s Top Times this Season
- 50 Free – Oliver Yancey (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven), 20.56 (NCAA B Cut)
- 100 Free – Oliver Yancey, 45.49
- 200 Free – Sam Nonemaker (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg), 1:43.23
- 500 Free – Duncan Proxmire, 4:38.42
- 1000 Free – Duncan Proxmire, 9:41.82
- 1650 Free – Duncan Proxmire, 16:00.86 (NCAA B Cut)
- 100 Back – Jeff Ragatz, 51.50
- 200 Back – Jeff Ragatz, 1:53.02
- 100 Breast – Oliver Yancey, 57.90
- 200 Breast – Adam Dias, 2:12.08
- 100 Fly – Jack Edelson, 50.88
- 200 Fly – Jack Edelson, 1:54.38
- 200 IM – Jack Edelson, 1:55.32
- 400 IM – Oliver Pickering, 4:14.98
- 200 Freestyle Relay – Nonemaker, Berry, Collins, Yancey, 1:23.04
- 400 Freestyle Relay – Colin, Petrillo, Yancey, Nonemaker, 3:03.24
- 800 Freestyle Relay – Nonemaker, Collins, Petrillo, Proxmire, 6:49.90
- 200 Medley Relay – Ragatz, Yancey, Berry, Nonemaker, 1:32.63
- 400 Medley Relay – Ragatz, Petrillo, Edelson, Collins, 3:25.45
What to Watch
Yancey and Proxmire have already established national qualifying times and will look to improve those marks this weekend. Yancey will have a battle with the some of the top sprinters from F&M, including last year’s 50 free champ Chris Schiavone, who is the only Centennial swimmer with a faster time this season (19.96). Yancey trails another F&M swimmer, Tom Graminski, in the 100 breast. Proxmire is the conference’s top seed in the 1,650, nearly nine seconds faster than No. 2 Willem Stoll from F&M. Stoll is the top performer in the 500 free so far this season, edging Proxmire’s mark by less than a second at 4:37.58.
Edelson heads into the fly races ranked first in the 200 (1:54.38) and second in the 100 (50.88). Rockaway will challenge the Gettysburg junior after posting a conference record time of 1:51.17 on the way to the title in 2019. Pickering is Gettysburg’s record holder in the 200 fly and comes into the weekend ranked fourth in the conference. Both Edelson and Pickering are the team’s top hopefuls in the individual medley races as well.
Gettysburg and F&M dominate the 100 and 200 free races with a combined 17 of the top 20 times in the conference. Schiavone heads the list in the 100 with a national cut time of 44.55 with Yancey (45.49) and Nonemaker (46.28) right behind. Five Bullets fill the top 10 in the 200 with Nonemaker owning the best time at 1:43.23.
In the remaining stroke events, Dias is a former conference champ in the 200 breast and enters the weekend fifth in the conference. Ragatz has been a finalist in the backstroke races and has posted the top time in the 200 (1:53.02), while ranking second in the 100 (51.50). Look for freshman Nick Cox (Purcellville, Va./Ponte Vedra) to make a splash in the backstroke races. Cox missed the Gettysburg Invite with injury, but was still able to post top-six times in both events in dual competitions.
All five relay races should be hotly-contested battles. The Diplomats hold the edge over the Bullets in four of the events, while Gettysburg leads in the 400 medley relay. Franklin & Marshall has already hit a “B” cut time in the 200 free relay at 1:21.58.
This story was originally posted on the Gettysburg College Website.