Gophers Fall to Defending Landmark Champs in Opener

TOWSON, Md. -- Opening up its season against Susquehanna, the three-time defending Landmark Conference champions, the Goucher women's swimming team fell 153-94 to the Crusaders at the von Borries Aquatic Center.

Susquehanna (1-0, 1-0 Landmark) had the top three finishers in six of the 10 contested events. Nicole Craver (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove Area) and Kellyn Brower (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) each picked up second place finishes to lead the Gophers (0-1, 0-1 Landmark). Goucher also grabbed all 59 available points in the final four events after the Crusaders declared those races as non-scoring exhibitions for their entries.

Craver posted a time of 2:05.92 in the 200-yard freestyle, coming only 1.31 seconds behind first-place finisher Kyle Seaman to pick up four points. Brower earned second place in the 100 backstroke, completing the race in 1:09.09, over two seconds ahead of Bilyana Panayotova in third.

Catherine Gepner (West Allenhurst, N.J./Ocean Twp.) added a third-place finish in the 1000 free with a time of 12:24.91. In her Gopher debut, Lizzy Hannifin (Denver, Colo./East) placed third in the 50 free with a time of 27.03.

The Gophers now have two weeks off before heading to St. Mary's (Md.) on November 2 for a 1 p.m. meet against the Seahawks.