GLENSIDE, Pa.--The Hood College women's swim team (1-0, 1-0 MAC)
toppled the Arcadia University Knights (0-1, 0-1 MAC) Saturday
afternoon by a count of 159-100 in its season-opening meet and
Middle Atlantic Conferences debut.
The Blazers won 10 individual events and one relay in addition
to breaking five Arcadia pool records and setting four new program
standards.
Today's team victory was the first for a Hood women's program
against a MAC school in head-to-head competition. The Blazer
women's cross country team outpointed Alvernia University on Sept.
22 at the Mule-Falcon Classic hosted by Cedar Crest College.
Newcomer Shannon McHale made a statement in her first collegiate
meet, setting two school and pool records in the 100 back (1:02.84)
and the 200 back (2:18.18). Her 100 back time eclipsed the previous
record by Karen Richmond from Feb. 24, 2003 at the Atlantic States
meet (1:03.75), while her 200 back clocking was 1.62 seconds faster
than Lenore Brown's time from the Grove City Invitational (2:19.80,
Feb. 20, 2006). McHale also bested the field in the 100 fly
(1:03.81) and led off the victorious 200 medley relay (1:58.66).
The 200 medley relay squad of McHale, Lauren Knutson, Lauren
Fogarty and Brittany Whitham shaved 0.78 seconds off the previous
Hood record from the Randolph Macon Invitational on Dec. 2, 2005
(1:59.44, Lenore Brown, Sarah Haney, Amy Kaufman, Katie
Hitchens).
Fogarty set a pool and school record in the 200 fly (2:18.54),
lowering Amy Kaufman's time from the 2004-05 season at Frostburg
State (2:22.87), and collected another Arcadia pool record in the
200 IM (2:20.63). Whitham also left her name in the Arcadia record
book as the pool record holder in the 200 free (2:04.69).
Other individual winners for Hood included Caitlin Fay in the
1000 free (11:33.76), Knutson in the 100 breast (1:18.87), Fogarty
in the 200 breast (2:39.64) and Whitham in the 500 free
(5:40.01).
Lindsay Cronin (12:00.84) and Meg Blodgett (12:02.42) took
second and third, respectively, in the 1000 free. Fay finished as
the runner-up to teammate McHale in the 100 back (1:04.20) and the
200 back (2:19.04), while captain Daniela Mittelkamp was third in
the 200 fly. Knutson and Blodgett went 2-3 in the 50 free while
Whitham (59.02) and Theresa Schwarzwalder (1:03.40) took second and
third in the 100 free. Knutson touched the wall second in the 500
free (5:50.73) behind teammate Whitham. Blodgett bested three
Knight swimmers in the 200 IM (2:33.30) to earn second-place points
for the Blazers.
The Blazers hit the road again for a tri-meet at Cabrini with
the Cavaliers and Pitt-Bradford Panthers Saturday at 1 p.m.
