Gophers Add 116 Points, Hang On To Seventh Place

Photo courtesy of Brian Schneider Photography

BOYDS, Md. — Even though Goucher had only two swimmers in the championship finals of an event on the middle day of the 2016 Landmark Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, the Gophers still managed to score 116 points today and hold on to seventh place in the team standings.

Alexis Regopoulos (Fitchburg, Mass./North Middlesex Regional) and Ila Jackson (Columbia, Md./homeschooled) claimed 12 points apiece for seventh-place finishes. For Regopoulos, it was in the 200-yard freestyle, which she completed in 2:00.73; for Jackson, it was in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:11.72).

The Gophers had a second swimmer in both of those events qualify for the consolation finals: Lizzy Hannifin (Denver, Colo./East) was clocked at 2:03.78 in the 200 free, good for 10th place, and Kyanna Cadwallader (Gainesville, Fla./Gainesville) placed 12th overall (1:13.32) in the 100 breast.

Rachel Kieffer (Granada Hills, Calif./Reseda) was the top performer in the consolation finals of the 400-yard individual medley, finishing in ninth place with her time of 5:00.04. In the 100-yard backstroke, Molly Brenton (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Twp.) posted a time of 1:03.85 to wind up in 10th place; in the 100 free, a time of 1:04.82 landed Samantha Epworth (Fair Oaks, Calif./Bella Vista) in 15th place.

The Gophers scored 52 points in the two relays events contested during this evening's session. The entry of Marykate Malone (Gales Ferry, Conn./Ledyard), Sydney Patterson (Dallas, Texas/Woodrow Wilson), Kieffer and Regopoulos placed fifth overall with its time of 8:38.64 in the 800-yard freestyle relay, and the foursome of Brenton, Jackson, Cadwallader and Hannifin turned in a combined time of 1:55.65 to finish in seventh place in the 200 medley relay.

Goucher's score after 14 events is 172, which leaves head coach Thomas Till's Gophers 19 points behind sixth-place Juniata.