Gophers Earn First Landmark Victory Since 2009-10

TOWSON, Md. — Facing off against a Juniata squad projected by Landmark coaches to finish three spots higher in the conference standings, Goucher cruised to a 119-71 victory over the Eagles at today's tri-meet from the von Borries Aquatic Center.

The Gophers were ranked ninth in the Landmark preseason poll, but three first-place finishes from Alexis Regopoulos (Fitchburg, Mass./North Middlesex Regional) helped the team outperform that prediction this afternoon. Scranton came out on top in today's meet with victories over both Goucher (118-80) and Juniata (133-66).

"This was a good test to see where we could improve against conference competition," head coach Thomas Till said. "We've been at the bottom for the last few years, but today's win should prove to the team that we have the potential to move up in the standings."

The last Landmark win for the Gophers during the regular season was a tri-match triumph over Drew and Merchant Marine on Jan. 16, 2010.

In addition to Regopoulos' three victories, Goucher received first place showings from Nicole Craver (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove Area) in the 200 individual medley and Kyanna Cadwallader (Gainesville, Fla./Gainesville) in the 100 butterfly.

Regopoulos competed in each of the first two individual races on the afternoon. She flattened the field in the 1000 freestyle, as her time of 11:16.37 was over a minute faster than Scranton's Jesse Lewandowski (12:27.10) in second place.

The next race, the 200 free, was much more competitive, with Regopoulos touching in at 2:04.38, 12-hundredths of a second ahead of Megan Connor from the Royals. Her other victory came in the 500 free, where she registered a 5:29.94 which was over eight seconds ahead of the next-closest finisher.

Craver (2:22.06) topped the field by over five seconds in the 200 IM. Alexis Walsh from Scranton placed second in the event with a time of 2:27.44. Cadwallader posted a 1:06.11 in the 100 fly for the Gophers' other individual victory.

Cadwallader also finished second in the 50 free (26.57), while Lizzy Hannifin (Denver, Colo./East) added a second place finish in the 100 free after coming in with a new personal record at 57.36.

Goucher's meet record for the season now stands at 3-4. The Gophers will look to improve on that mark with a 1 p.m. home meet against Gallaudet next Saturday.