Men's Swimming & Diving

Spartans Roll to 139-66 Victory at St. Mary's

ST. MARY’S CITY, MD – The York College men’s swimming team rolled on Saturday afternoon as the Spartans (3-1) cruised to a 135-70 victory over Capital Athletic Conference foe St. Mary’s College of Maryland in St. Mary’s City. The Green and White, who swept the top three spots in five of the eleven events, nabbed seven first-place finishes.

York’s first top-three sweep came in the third event of the day – the 200 freestyle. Mike Murphy (Farmingdale, N.J./Colts Neck) won the race in a time of 1:52.92 followed by teammates AJ Bean (Ijamsville, Md./Urbana) and Brian Shaffer (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland), respectively. Bean posted a 1:53.18 while Shaffer came in at 1:56.89.

Two events later, the Green and White swept the 400 IM as Steven Mercer (Rockville, Md./The Heights School), Andy Demarest (Galloway, N.J./Abesegami), and Matt Kempel (Millington, Md./Queen Anne's County) came in 1-2-3. Mercer’s 4:35.63 paced six-swimmer event while Demarest recorded a 4:36.05. Kempel added third-place points to the Spartans’ score with a 4:43.38.

The Green and White also registered swimmers in the top three spots in the 100 and 500 freestyle races. Sophomore standout Jack Gottschalk (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) secured first in the 100 free with a personal season-best time of 50.54. Murphy (50.96) and Tom DeCoursey (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) (51.72) finished just behind Gottschalk. The 500 free belonged to Steve Yeager (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) as he recorded the squad’s second-best time of the 2009-2010 campaign. Yeager posted a 5:10.86 while Richard Janosky (Dover, Pa./Dover) and Kempel registered 5:16.68 and 5:21.57, respectively.

York’s fifth and final three-place sweep cam in the 200 free relay. DeCoursey, Gottschalk, Clark Arnold (York, Pa./Northeastern), and Ben Hilt (Mt. Joy, Pa./Hempfield) put a 1:30.77 together to capture first while the Spartans also nabbed second and third in the event.

Arnold posted a season-best time in the 100 butterfly as he came in with a 55.29 to capture the victory just before Andy Woods (York, Pa./Dover Area) touched the wall at 55.53.

Bean would secure an individual event of his own in the 100 backstroke. The junior recorded the best team time of the year in the race with a 56.99.

The Spartans did open the day in a slightly inauspicious manner as they took second in the 200 medley relay and the 1,000 freestyle to begin the meet. Bean, Steve Tobin (Estell Manor, N.J./Holy Spirit), Arnold, and Hilt combined to register a 1:41.18, a mere nine-hundredths behind St. Mary’s in the opening relay. The Spartans then took second in the following 1,000 freestyle event. Yeager did however, post a personal- and team-best time of the season with a 10:31.80. Kempel also recorded a personal season best with an 11:01.88.

DeCoursey took second in the 50 free (22.95) with his second best mark of 2009-2010.  Tobin notched a runner-up mark in the 100 breastroke with a 1:03.67, his best of the young season, while Yeager came in third in the event with a 1:06.13.

The Green and White return to action on Friday, December 4. The Spartans will host CAC rival Salisbury and former league foe Goucher in a 6:00 p.m. tri-meet at York’s Grumbacher Sport & Fitness Center.

MEET RESULTS

Ben Hilt photo courtesy of Zach Clabaugh (www.sharpedgephoto.smugmug.com)