Jan. 28, 2012
Complete Results
LEXINGTON, VA - The Johns Hopkins swim team got back in the win column on Saturday morning, beating host Washington & Lee, 137-122, to improve to 8-2 on the season. The Blue Jays only two losses this season are to Division I opponents. The Generals suffer just their third loss of the season, and have their win streak snapped at four, as they fall to 9-3.
Hopkins won eight of the 12 scored events before swimming exhibitions in the final two events, the 200 IM and 200 Free Relay. The Blue Jays showed their depth on the afternoon as seven different swimmers won an individual event.
The Blue Jays won a close one in the opening event of the day as the team of Melinda Yau, Cristina Cusumano, Kivilcim Gunay and Jillian Liwacz won the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:52.56 to just beat the Generals' time of 1:52.97. Liwacz's split of 24.91 in the final leg sealed the win as the Blue Jays turned a seven-second advantage into a 41-second win. Hopkins then swept the three top spots in the 1000 Free, led by Selena Guerrero-Martin took the win in 10:59.62, followed by Beril Polat in second (11:05.30) and Khristine Ghemigian in third (11:08.35).
Kristen Ferriero won another close one for Hopkins, winning the 200 Free with a time of 1:59.38 to win by a half second. Heidi Culver would touch in third with a time of 2:00.30. Jocelyn Cassada earned the first win for the Generals in the 100 Back, while Hannah Benn followed in second in 1:01.65. Yau followed in third with a time of 1:02.56. The 100 Breast saw Cusumano pick up her first win, taking the top spot in the 100 Breast as she touched in 1:09.83. Margaret Spach took third place, touching less than a second later, in 1:10.69.
Brittany Ross won the 200 Fly for the Generals, but the Blue Jays would take second through fourth place to pick up nine points in the standings. Allison Henry paced the Blue Jays with a time of 2:20.72 for second place. Ali Katchis placed third in 2:20.79 and Gunay followed in fourth in 2:21.30. Hopkins showed its depth again, this time in the 50 Free, as the visitors swept the top three spots in a span of just 0.07 seconds. Liwacz led the way, touching first in 25.64, to just edge Eleanor Gardner who finished in 25.70. Benn would follow just 0.01 second later, touching in 25.71.
Benn followed that with a win in the 200 Back, winning by just 0.11 seconds to finish in 2:10.60. Cusumano added a second-place finish in the 200 Breast to her win in the 100 Breast as she finished in 2:34.85. Kim Sheehan took fourth place in 2:37.94. Culver picked up a win, finishing in 5:20.68 to win the 500 Free. While Molly Merkel placed third with a time of 5:21.43. In the final scored event, Gunay finished second in the 100 Fly with a time of 1:02.70. Allison Henry finished in fourth with a time of 1:03.20.
Hopkins concludes its dual meet season having won 13 straight against Division III teams. The Blue Jays' eight dual-meet wins this season tie the school record and are the most since JHU went 8-3 in 1997-98. Hopkins will return to action at the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championship, February 15-18, in Charlotte, NC.
