Dynasties: Men's Basketball, Swimming Programs Defend Conference Titles
Both swimming teams achieved a three-peat while the men's basketball squad won consecutive conference titles for the first time in program history.
Swarthmore College athletics had a golden weekend as the men's basketball team and the men's and women's swimming programs each captured their respective Centennial Conference championships. It was the second consecutive crown for men's basketball and third in a row for both swimming teams.
On the court, the Garnet bested 23rd-ranked Johns Hopkins in the conference championship by a 67-62 score. Michael Caprise ’24, who was named tournament MVP, led the way with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Vinny DeAngelo ’24 added 20 points and eight boards. The win earned the program their seventh consecutive berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament and marked the first time in program history that Swarthmore has won back-to-back conference championships.
The Garnet opened the tournament by beating Virginia Wesleyan, 67-59, before falling to third-ranked host Trinity College (Conn.), 83-74. Swarthmore erased a double-digit deficit to tie the game at 69 apiece with 4:50 remaining in the second half, but could not overcome their opponent. The team finishes the season with a 21-9 record overall.
In the pool, the swimming programs continued their recent dominance of Centennial Conference competition; the men's team won the meet by 238 points while the women's squad finished 122.5 points ahead of second place.
On the men's side, the 21st-ranked Garnet collected 25 medals on the weekend (12 gold, 12 silver, one bronze) and Andrew Karpenko ’24 was named Most Outstanding Performer of the championships for the third year in a row, becoming only the second male swimmer in Centennial Conference history to achieve that feat.
The 16th-ranked women's swimming program boasted 27 medals (13 gold, seven silver, seven bronze) and Quinn Weygandt ’26 received Most Outstanding Performer honors after a dominant weekend that included five golds, three championship and conference records, five pool records, four program records, and five NCAA 'B' cuts.
On Wednesday, women's swimming added another accolade to its growing list of accomplishments: the team will send a program-record 11 swimmers to compete in a program-record 24 events at the upcoming NCAA Division III National Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. Read the full story courtesy of Swarthmore Athletics.
In other winter sports championship action, the women's track & field team finished third in the conference meet, while the men placed eighth.
