Goucher Ends Meet With Five Titles, 12 School Marks

BOYDS, Md. — The final day of competition at the 2015 Landmark Swimming Championships saw Goucher earn two more conference titles, giving the program five for the weekend.

All five were earned by Sam Davis (Wilmington, Del./Wilmington Friends) and Morgan Richter (Cleburne, Texas/Cleburne), with each adding an additional championship and posting new school records in their respective events.

Davis first broke his own school mark in the preliminary session of the 100-yard freestyle, clocking in as the top qualifier at 47.00. He then completed his sweep of the conference sprint free events by lowering that time down to 46.55 in the finals. That time was 0.43 ahead of Dan Adams from Marywood in second place.

Richter took nearly three seconds off his previous school record mark in the 200 butterfly preliminaries, finishing the morning session with a D-III B time of 1:51.30, nearly six seconds faster than his next closest competitor.

He was not quite as fast in the finals, touching in at 1:51.73, but that was still more than fast enough to ensure that he swept the conference fly events for a second consecutive season. Richter has now won the 200 fly in each of his first three years as a Gopher, and he has claimed six career Landmark titles after winning all three events that he entered this weekend.

Those 40 points contributed to a final team total of 347.5 points, putting Goucher in sixth place overall, well ahead of the 148 tallied by seventh-place Drew and only 20.5 back of Marywood in fifth.

Ben Shriner (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) began the evening with an outstanding time of 17:09.06 in the 1650 free. That was 52 seconds faster than his previous personal best time, it was only eight seconds off of Morgan Richter's school record, and it placed him seventh overall in the event.

Colin Richter (Cleburne, Texas/Cleburne) was the top qualifier for the finals in the 200 backstroke after registering a 1:57.70 in the preliminary round. Richter could not stop Merchant Marine's Kevin Lindgren from claiming a fourth consecutive title in the event, but he lowered his time down to 1:53.99 to break his own school record by nearly three seconds and earn his second runner-up finish of the weekend. That result gave the Gophers an additional 17 points.

Ian Furst (North Reading, Mass./Homeschooled) swam in the consolation final of the 200 back, tacking on two more points for Goucher with a 15th place showing (2:07.31).

The 200 breaststroke followed Davis' victory, and Cody Nelson (Duanesburg, N.Y./Schalmont) entered the finals as the No. 5 qualifier after posting a personal best 2:11.56. Nelson could not quite keep up with that standard in the nightcap, touching in at 2:12.73, but he still earned an additional 11 team points with his eight place finish. Jerel McCord (Fort Wayne, Ind./South Side) added six more with his 11th place result in the 200 fly (2:01.58).

The Gophers concluded the championships with yet another relay school record, this time in the 400 free relay. Colin Richter, Andrew Coon (Cumberland, Maine/Greely), Morgan Richter and Davis finished as the runner-up to Merchant Marine, taking over four seconds off the previous school mark with a time of 3:09.21.

That gave Goucher 12 school records for the weekend. The Gophers set new program bests in four of the five contested relays.

For the weekend, Goucher's five event wins were second only to Merchant Marine, which claimed 12 events on its way to an eighth-consecutive Landmark Championship. The Mariners earned a conference-record 973 points, well ahead of second-place Susquehanna (520.5).