Championship Page | Psych Sheet

Ali Roth, Gettysburg

The 21st annual Centennial Conference men's swimming championship begins Friday and concludes Sunday at Franklin & Marshall College's Kunkel Aquatic Center.

Three-time defending champion Gettysburg looks for its fourth consecutive crown and 15th overall, while Ursinus, coming off its best dual-meet season in program history (11-0), seeks its first Centennial title.

What to Watch For

Friday
Defending champion Lea Candelmo (Oakland, N.J.) has the top time in the Conference in the 500 free and will be challenged for gold by F&M's Katie Grant (South Salem, N.Y.) and Ursinus' Malena Lair-Ferrari (Bethesda, Md.). Bear first-year Katie Pielmeier (Palmerton, Pa.) and Swarthmore's Supriya Davis (Durham, N.C.), the 2012 champion in the event, will duel in the 200 IM with Gettysburg's Haley Weaver (Charlotte, N.C.). Bullet senior Ali Roth (Doylestown, Pa.) and F&M freshman Jillian Albus (Easton, Pa.) are separated by just .01 in the 50 free, but don't count out two-time champ Kate Wiseman (Nashville, Tenn.) of Swarthmore. The relays will be as important as ever in the team standings. F&M has the best time in the 200 free (1:40.05), but Ursinus (1:40.23) and Gettysburg (1:40.34) are right on the hosts' heels. The Bears have a slight time edge (4:04.66) over Swarthmore (4:04.88) and Gettysburg (4:04.94) in the 400 medley relay.

Saturday
Candelmo looks to defend her crown in the 400 IM with challenges from Pielmeier and F&M's Maggie Johns (Seaford, N.Y.). Davis is shooting to become the second woman in Centennial history to three-peat in the 100 fly. Standing in her way are Albus and Gettysburg's Sydney Boswell (Linwood, N.J.). Grant and defending champ Corinne Capodanno (Claymont, Del.) of Ursinus are the favorites in the 200 free along with Lair-Ferrari. Gettysburg soph Emily Schmitt (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Washington College senior Ellie Miskiel (Gaithersburg, Md.) are the leading candidates for gold in the 100 breaststroke. Two former champs are back in the 100 back - Lair-Ferrari and McDaniel's Emma Duesterhaus (Spartanburg, S.C.) - but they will be chasing Boswell. Gettysburg is the favorite in the 200 medley, while Ursinus has the season's best aggregate in the 800 free.

Sunday
Grant attempts to become just the second woman to win three straight 1650s but will have to hold off Johns and Candelmo. Speaking of history, Lair-Ferrari looks to become the second woman to win the 200 back four times, fighting off challenges from freshmen Erica Flor (Huntington, N.Y.) of Swarthmore and Maddie Tulp (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) of Gettysburg. The 100 free shapes up as a four-woman battle between Capodanno, Albus, Roth and Dickinson's Caitlin Klockner (Acton, Mass.). Miskiel aims to repeat in the 200 breast, while Davis looks to "three-peat" in the 200 fly. The 400 free relay could decide the championship. F&M has the top time on the year (3:38.19), followed closely by Gettysburg (3:38.48) and Ursinus (3:39.06).