Acorn

Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Sterling Reese Captain Andrew Cronholm ('08) has proven himself worthy of his title throughout the season and will swim in his final meet tomorrow against Mount St. Mary's.

The men's and women's swimming teams have been working diligently all throughout January break in order to ready themselves for their conference championships, and it seems to be working. Both squads are peaking, with individual performances that could not have been foreseen a month ago.

The teams traveled to Florida during the early part of January term break in order to train for their upcoming slate of meets. Their grueling schedule paid immediate dividends.

"We practiced four hours straight, every day, for nine straight days," captain Beth Crockford-Peters ('08) SAID. "We were absolutely exhausted, but it was amazing for our team. The confidence that we built was an invaluable thing for us."

Upon their return, the teams faced Montclair State Jan. 22, followed by a contest with the University of Scranton this past Saturday afternoon. The most recent meet featured a multitude of outstanding Ranger performances.

Andrew Cronholm ('08) continued to be the leader of the men's squad, both on the leaderboard and in the locker room, winning the 200 yard freestyle in a time of 1:53.73. Tim Charpie won both the 1650 and the 400 meter intermediate medley events, and was picked out as being especially impressive. "He's done an amazing job," Crockford-Peters said. "He swam the best time of his life, and he's been great all year." The women's team featured Crockford-Peters winning the 1650 free and placing second in the 500 free. Kati Eggert won the 50 free in a time of 26.49.

While dropping both decisions, the individual performances throughout, coupled with the women's team's convincing victory over the US Merchant Marine Academy a week earlier, has buoyed the team's spirits.

"Swimming is a sport that is not captured best through results, but rather through performance," Crockford-Peters explained. "The improvement we've seen this season goes beyond what we could have expected."

Dan Sorenson ('09) who is studying abroad in China this semester was picked out by someone with an essential performance. "Swimming is one sport where hard work and determination can pay off and Dan Sorenson is the perfect example of that. Dan had never swam before joining the team, and in the past two years he has been our greatest success story, cutting 30 seconds off of his time just this past week.

Dan has been an inspiration to the team through his work ethic and sportsmanship. We are sad that he is unable to be with us for championships, but we are expecting him to do great things when he is back for his senior year."

The team has its final home meet of the season this Saturday against Mount St. Mary's, which will feature the honoring of its many seniors beforehand.

It will then go to the Landmark Conference Championships, where the team is eager to prove the improvement that it has undergone.

"Going to the conference championships is going to be great for our team," Crockford-Peters said. "We feel great about how we'll do there."

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