BRYN MAWR, Pa. – The Owls swim team celebrated Senior Day in spectacular fashion earlier Sunday afternoon in the Schwartz Natatorium. After honoring the careers of their four seniors – Clara Costello, Maggie Hernan, Hannah Nye, and Maya Schneider – Bryn Mawr went out and put together a dominant performance against McDaniel. The Owls earned the win in 12 of the 14 events on the day en route to a huge 171-67 victory over the Green Terror. In the process, Bryn Mawr picked up their first Centennial Conference victory since January of 2010, when they also earned a big win against McDaniel.
The Owls got things rolling with a win in the 200 medley relay, where the quartet of Schneider, Teagan Rooney, Melanie Golden, and Kelly Peterson combined to swim a 1:59.87 and take the victory by almost four seconds over the McDaniel "A" squad.
Vivian Sandifer got the first individual win of the day for the Owls in the 1000 freestyle. The sophomore picked up nine points for the Owls by finishing in a time of 11:21.13, almost five seconds faster than the second-place finisher from McDaniel. Bethany Rutkowski also put on a strong showing, just missing a personal best by less than half-a-second with a time of 11:51.80. Felicia Pursner also did well in her first time swimming the event, coming home in a time of 12:56.59.
In the 200 freestyle, it was Rooney getting the win for the Owls, taking first in a time of 2:03.80. Nyah Hartwell claimed second for Bryn Mawr in the event as well with a time of 2:06.77.
The Owls grabbed the top four spots in the 100 backstroke, led by a solid performance by Maya Schneider. The senior swam a 1:05.48, just good enough to out-touch her teammate Melanie Golden. Golden swam a new season-best time of 1:05.68 to claim the second spot while Paige DiFronzo took third. Clara Costello put together an excellent performance as well to help celebrate her own senior day, as she swam a new personal best of 1:13.91 in the event to finish fourth.
Katharine Briggs took the win in the 100 breaststroke, swimming a 1:14.80 to win by over five seconds. Bethany Rutkowski earned second place in the event with a new personal best swim of her own, finishing in 1:19.97.
In the 200 fly, Kelly Peterson earned the win for the Owls in a hard-fought swim against McDaniel's Ella Tomkins. The two swimmers were neck-and-neck for roughly the first three quarters of the event, but Peterson showcased some impressive resilience in the final lap, pulling away from her opponent to take the win by almost two seconds. Emmy Wisz took third in the event with a new season best of 2:34.97, while Selin Butun also swam a season best with a time of 2:50.44
The 50 freestyle saw Adjoa Acquaah earn the win for the Owls, as the sophomore took first place in the event with a new season best time of 26.56. Katina Brazhnikov took second place as well for the Owls to give the team four more points. She would then go on to take the win in the ensuing event, the 100 freestyle. There, Brazhnikov swam a 58.32 to take the top spot, just out-touching McDaniel's Amanda Thompson by .23 of a second. Acquaah took third in that same event, swimming another season best of 58.83. Senior Hannah Nye also put together a great swim, posting a season best of her own with a time of 1:05.10 in the event.
Melanie Golden swam a new season best in the 200 backstroke to take the win, while Paige DiFronzo and Lanie Edelson claimed second and third place to help the Owls to a clean sweep in the event. The Owls also finished 1-2-3 in the 200 breaststroke, with Briggs picking up another win in that event.
Teagan Rooney earned the victory in the 500 freestyle, while Sandifer earned second place in that event just seven seconds behind her teammate. The ensuing 100 fly would be the only individual event that Bryn Mawr didn't get the win in, but Kelly Peterson, Emmy Wisz, and Rachel Adlai-Gail each put together strong swims to finish as the second-, third-, and fourth-fastest swimmers in the event.
Schneider capped off the individual events with one more win, this time in the 200 individual medley. The senior took the victory with a time of 2:23.88, outracing her McDaniel opponent by four seconds in the event.
The 400 freestyle relay came down to the wire, as Bryn Mawr's "A" relay jumped out to a small lead in the early legs. However, the Green Terror battled back down the stretch and ended up out-touching the Owls by .19 of a second to take first place in the event.
Today's victory is a perfect way to close out the regular season for Bryn Mawr, as the team now has plenty of positive momentum headed towards the Centennial Conference Championship meet. The Owls will continue to train and look to peak at the right time for that big four-day showdown, which is set to begin on Thursday, February 17 at Franklin & Marshall.
