LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall's women's swimming team battled Gettysburg in a 149-113 defeat on Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference (CC) action. The Diplomats dropped to 5-5, 3-4 CC, while the Bullets improved to 8-1, 6-0 CC.
F&M fell behind early as Gettysburg relay squads picked up the first two spots in the 200-yard medley relay, with the top team ending the race in 1:54.73.
Katherine Grant earned the first individual victory of the day, dominating the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:48.87, more than seven seconds ahead of the next swimmer. Maggie Johns was the second Diplomat to finish, placing fourth at 11:02.80.
Krista Hollingsworth picked up F&M's second-straight win with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 1:58.37. Alexia Tomlinson was the only other Diplomat to earn points in the event, placing fifth at 2:01.63.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Courtney Collins came in first with a time of 1:02.95 to pick up the third win in a row for F&M.
The Bullets earned a victory in the 100-yard breaststroke before Johns got the Diplomats back on track with a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:16.28.
Gettysburg took wins in the next four events before Grant earned her second victory of the meet, finishing the 500-yard freestyle in 5:10.98.
Collins captured her second win of the competition in the next event, touching the wall first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:01.93. Stephanie Brooks was the next F&M swimmer to finish, with a third-place showing at 1:04.04.
Caitlyn Fuller narrowly pulled out a victory in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing a mere second behind Caroline Coolidge from Gettysburg who touched the wall at 2:16.51.
Gettysburg closed out the meet by taking first in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:44.13. A team of Jackie Behr, Hollingsworth, Grant and Tomlinson placed second at 3:45.37.
The Diplomats return to the pool on Friday, Feb. 22 when F&M hosts day one of the CC Championships. Finals are scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
