BRYN MAWR, Pa. – The Owls swim team hosted their final team meet of the fall semester earlier Saturday afternoon, and Bryn Mawr put together some tremendous performances en route to a pair of big non-conference wins. The Owls finished first in all but one event on the afternoon, coasting to a 125-64 win over Immaculata and a 135-69 victory over Lebanon Valley College.
The Owls got the day started with a dominant performance in the 400 medley relay, where their three relay squads finished 1-2-3. The quartet of Maya Schneider, Teagan Rooney, Kelly Peterson, and Melanie Golden combined to swim a 4:20.53 and easily claim the top spot in the event. Katrina Brazhnikov, Katharine Briggs, Rachel Adlai-Gail, and Adjoa Acquaah teamed up to take second (4:34.20), while Clara Costello, Maggie Hernan, Selin Butun, and Nyah Hartwell wrapped up the top-3 shutout with a time of 4:47.43.
Teagan Rooney had another historic day for the Owls, setting Top 10 All-Time times in both the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke. After assisting in the win of the 400 medley relay, Rooney claimed first place in the 200 IM later in the meet. Her time of 2:16.12 was good enough to take the victory by almost ten seconds, and it was also the sixth-fastest 200 IM in Bryn Mawr swimming history. The first-year then made some noise in the 100 breaststroke as well, swimming the fastest time of the day in that event. Her mark of 1:11.75 was also the fourth-fastest 100 breaststroke in Bryn Mawr history.
Kelly Peterson also put together some impressive results on the day. She made some history of her own after contributing to the strong 400 medley relay performance, winning the 100 butterfly by almost four seconds. Her winning time of 1:02.76 is also the ninth-fastest 100 fly in Bryn Mawr swim history. Peterson would go on to help the Owls swim the fastest 200 free relay of the day to close the meet.
There were plenty of other notable performances on the day from Bryn Mawr. Vivian Sandifer, Melanie Golden, Nyah Hartwell, and Maya Schneider also earned individual wins on the afternoon. Golden got a pair of victories herself, as the first-year took wins in both the 200 freestyle (2:08.12) and the 100 backstroke (1:06.07), two events she was swimming for the first time in a collegiate meet.
Sandifer took first in the 1000 freestyle, just missing a season best by a couple of seconds but still getting the win by over half-a-minute with a time of 11:25.81. She would later go on to take fourth in the 100 backstroke.
Hartwell got the win in the 100 freestyle, just beating out two teammates as the Owls went 1-2-3 in that event as well. Hartwell earned the victory with a time of 58.46 while Katrina Brazhnikov took second in a season-best time of 58.67 and Carson Griffin claimed third in a time of 1:00.71.
Schneider swam the 500 freestyle for just the third time in her collegiate career, and the Owls senior co-captain picked up a gutty win to once again lead her team to a 1-2-3 finish in the event. Schneider's time of 5:50.19 was enough to get the win by almost 20 seconds, while Selin Butun (6:09.44) and Felicia Pursner (6:11.32) each picked up top three finishes in their first time swimming the event collegiately.
Bethany Rutkowski had a strong day as well, finishing second for the Owls in the 1000 freestyle. The sophomore finished in a time of 12:03.27, a new personal best and good enough to take second place by almost a full minute over her closest competitor.
Adjoa Acquaah took second place in the 200 freestyle for the Owls, swimming a 2:15.43 in her first collegiate attempt at the event. Carson Griffin and Maggie Hernan went 2-3 in the 50 freestyle, while Katharine Briggs took second in the 200 IM in her first time swimming the event in a college meet. Paige DiFronzo also took second in an event she was swimming for the first time she swam collegiately, earning the penultimate spot in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:06.42. Hernan would also post the second-fastest finish of the day in the 100 breaststroke to cap off the individual events for Bryn Mawr.
The Owls closed the day similar to how they opened it, finishing with the two fastest times in the 200 free relay. The quartet of Brazhnikov, Griffin, Peterson, and Schneider combined to swim a 1:47.14, just outtouching their teammates Acquaah, Briggs, Pursner, and Hartwell for the top finish.
Bryn Mawr will be back in action one more time in the fall semester, as the Owls are set to take part in the Gettysburg Invitational in early December.
