In just four years of existence, Washington College's men's swimming team has become accustomed to winning. After an 8-2 season last year, when they finished second in the Centennial Conference, the Shoremen are rolling along at 9-0 behind senior captain Dave Cola. He is undefeated in the 500-yard freestyle, and is ranked 20th in the nation in the 1,000 free.
The women's team, in its eighth year, is on a similar course. It is 8-0, but has followed a different path to get there.
Last year, the women went 2-9, good for eighth in the league. But a terrific recruiting class, led by freshmen Danielle Sullivan, Meredith Bathgate, Megan Bradley and Darlene Schaub (Catonsville), has turned around the team.
Sullivan already owns school records in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle. Bathgate (100 backstroke) and Bradley (100 butterfly) have set school marks. Schaub is undefeated in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and recently just missed a school record in the 100.
The Shoremen face Gettysburg in their dual-meet finale Saturday, then will prepare for the conference championships at Swarthmore College in two weeks, where Gettysburg will be favored to repeat as champion.
Fun at St. Mary's
He is three months into his first head coaching job. His injury-plagued team, reduced for a while to seven players, is struggling with a 6-11 record and has yet to win at home. He still is trying to sell the house he left behind in Westminster last fall.
But Bob Flynn, who left Mount St. Mary's last year after 10 seasons as an assistant under Jim Phelan to take over the program at St. Mary's College, can't believe how much fun he is having.
"I absolutely love it," Flynn said. "It's a beautiful campus, and it's fun to coach at this [Division III] level. It's not the high-level pressure of Division I, and you're home for dinner four nights a week. Coach Phelan told me to find a place where I can raise my kids, see my family and coach basketball. That's what I've done."
Flynn also is enjoying the way his Seahawks are rebounding from a rough start. The lone starter from last year's 14-12 team, senior guard Barry Friedman, took a medical redshirt after breaking his foot in the second game. Junior center Michael Lind (Chesapeake) just returned after missing five weeks with a broken ankle. Backup center Mike Scott is lost for the year with a severe asthma condition.
But sophomore guards Steve Michelotti (21 ppg) and Andy Benincasa (94 points in his past four games) have revived St. Mary's, which is 3-6 in the Capital Athletic Conference and has won two of its past three games.
St. Mary's will take a two-game swing through Baltimore, starting with Saturday's contest at Goucher. On Monday, the Seahawks will face Villa Julie at 7:30 at Cardinal Gibbons High School, in a game dedicated to Ray Mullis, the late Gibbons coach.
Flynn, who played for Mullis, was a backup center at Gibbons from 1973 to '75.
"I knew from the time I was 15 that I wanted to coach, and it was because of Coach Mullis," Flynn said. Half of the proceeds from the game will be donated to cancer research.
UMBC makes run
UMBC is sending its one-mile relay team to the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York tomorrow.
Sophomore David Bobb, senior D. J. Guillaume, sophomore Rob Keffer and junior Phil Marshall will make the trip for the Retrievers. The meet will be shown on a tape delay Saturday on ESPN.