LANCASTER, Pa. - The No. 15 Swarthmore College women's swimming team captured a gold and silver medal to open the Centennial Conference Championships on Thursday evening.

The team placed first overall in a tightly-contested 800 freestyle relay, while settling for second in the 200 medley relay. Both Swarthmore relays outperformed the NCAA B cut and ranked inside the top-three all-time in program history. 

The 800 freestyle relay captured its sixth-straight gold medal in the event. Ava Craig anchored the championship relay with an outstanding finish to overtake Gettysburg and Johns Hopkins in the final 50 yards. 

After the opening two events, the Garnet sit in first place with 98 points. Johns Hopkins is currently second with 88 points, while Gettysburg follows in third with 76 points. 


HOW IT HAPPENED
- The 200 medley relay of Maya Ambardekar, Elle Anthony, Norah Rutkowski and Genine Collins raced to a second-place finish to open the championships. The team touched at 1:43.07, outperforming last season's NCAA invite time and moving inside the top-15 nationally. Despite an excellent 50 freestyle split from Collins, Johns Hopkins narrowly edged out the defending champs with a time of 1:42.84. Swarthmore's swim marked the second-fastest time in program history. 

- Swarthmore's 200 medley B relay picked up key points for the Garnet with a first-place finish in the consolation race. Marin Norlander, Cara Dominici, Mirabel Fernald and Sam Packard finished at 1:44.68 to post the ninth-fastest mark in program history. 

- The 800 freestyle relay headlined the evening with a thrilling victory to cap off the night. The team of Quinn Weygandt, Riley Bacinski, Kate Hallmark and Craig captured the team's sixth-straight gold medal in the event with a time of 7:31.94. Craig chased down Gettysburg and Johns Hopkins in the final 50 yards to propel the Garnet towards the top of the podium. The swim ranks third all-time in team history, while outperforming last season's NCAA invite time. The Garnet relay currently sits just outside the top-10 nationally. 

UP NEXT
The Garnet return to the pool tomorrow afternoon. The opening session begins at 10 a.m. with the finals slated for 6 p.m.