COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's swimming team passed its biggest test of the season with flying colors, defeating Swarthmore 148.5-108.5 with a convincing performance that extended its overall dual-meet winning streak to 43 and its Centennial Conference run to 28.
Sophomore Peyten Lyons won three individual events, including a pool-record effort in the 200 back, to power Ursinus (4-0, 4-0) to a dominant result against a Swarthmore squad that came in undefeated. Junior Sydney Gundersen and sophomore Clara Baker produced two victories apiece and teamed with Lyons for another in the opening 200 medley relay.
The Bears got off to a fast start as Lyons, Baker, Gundersen, and senior Alexandra Hemp combined to take first place in the 200 medley relay, their time of 1:49.96 nearly two seconds ahead of the Garnet's runner-up group.
Freshman Margrethe Leis followed with a win in the 1000 free (11:14.93) before Gundersen extended the lead with the first of her individual conquests, a 1:58.62 mark in the 200 free. Gundersen also prevailed in the 100 free with a time of 54.80 that eclipsed her previous season best by more than half a second.
That set the stage for Lyons, who broke her own pool mark set last year with a clocking of 58.92 in the 100 back, lowering her previous best time this season by .49 seconds.
Baker led a 1-2-3 finish in the 50 free, touching first in 25.12 seconds. Freshman Grace Emig (25.83) was runner-up, followed by Hemp (25.97) in third.
Lyons cruised in the 200 back, posting a 2:10.94 that stands as the best time in the Centennial Conference, more than 2.50 seconds faster than her previous top performance this season. Junior Meggie Leitz was runner-up in 2:13.64 and captured the 200 fly in 2:11.08, also the top mark in the CC and narrowly missing the pool record of 2:11.00.
Sophomore Gabriella Timusck won the 200 breast in 2:31.41 before Baker headlined another 1-2-3 showing, this time in the 100 fly. Baker touched the wall in 58.12 seconds, ahead of Leitz (1:00.12) in second and junior Katherine Porter (1:01.21) in third.
The Bears went to exhibition scoring for the final two meets, but not before Lyons posted a 2:14.80 in the 200 IM. It was more than a second ahead of her former season best and moved her into second on the conference performance list.
The women's swimming team heads to West Chester for the Golden Ram Classic from December 9-10.
