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   Despite a rough start to their meet against Ferrum College in which the Bridgewater College Eagles swim team had their top relay team disqualified and the fact that the meet was originally supposed to be hosted by Ferrum, the lady Eagles broke through the waves and defeated Ferrum 128-40.

   Ferrum was an interesting meet because it was supposed to be at their pool but on Wednesday afternoon the team was informed that they were not allowed to have the meet there because of a championship football game. Instead, the meet was moved to BC’s pool. 

   “This mentally helped a lot!” Jennifer Lutz said about this past Saturday’s meet.

   In the 200-meter medley relay, Bridgewater’s relay team made up of Macey Smith, Jessica Thomas, Gabby Harbour, and Allie Stewart, finished in first with an impressive time of 2:21.27.

   Bridgewater’s second victory came from Danielle Dillon in the 800-meter freestyle. Dillon finished first with a time of 10:36.81. Following closely behind Dillon was teammate Kelsey Hess who finished with a time of 11:04.22.

   In the 200-meter freestyle, Carrie Crowther set a new school record finishing in first place with a time of 2:20.43. Annalee Gallagher broke another school record in the 50-meter freestyle finishing in 28.74. Shannon Myers finished second behind Gallagher with a time of 28.86.

   More records were broken by the ladies as the afternoon continued. In the 200-meter individual medley, Allie Steward finished six seconds ahead of teammate Jeni Zeiler to set a new school record. In the 100-meter butterfly, BC swimmers Emily Townsend and Annalee Gallagher were the top two finishers. Carrie Crowther found her second victory of the day in the 100-meter freestyle.

   Another broken record came from Shannon Myers in the 100-meter backstroke. Danielle Dillon took home her second victory in the 400-meter freestyle. The final school record of the day was broken by Jeni Zeiler in the 100-meter breaststroke.  In the final event of the day, Bridgewater found another victory in the 200-meter freestyle relay made up of Danielle Dillon, Carrie Crowther, Annalee Gallagher, and Jennifer Lutz.

   “As a team, our goal for the season is to be first and second in everything we do so that we can be the best,” Amy Buettner said. “This is accomplished by long hours in the pool with the workouts that Coach Fran cooks up for us.”

   The Lady Eagles will be on the road for their next five meets, but will return to the Nininger Pool on Jan. 19 at 12:00 p.m. to face ODAC opponent Emory and Henry College.

Coming into the 2012 season, the Bridgewater College women’s soccer team had one goal, winning the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

   “We had a talented group of girls coming back this season so I thought our chances of winning the ODAC were pretty high”, said senior midfielder Brittney Harris.

   The Eagles got a chance to travel to Europe before the season and play different teams while enjoying the scenery and attractions.

   “Being able to travel to Europe and play was a really good experience for us. I think that whole trip got everyone excited for the upcoming season,” said sophomore midfielder Anna Theisen.

   The squad went 3-0 during their trip to Europe and developed a solid team coming into this year’s season. Following the team’s first loss against Mary Washington, the Eagles went 11-7-2 en route to the ODAC finals.

   During their quarterfinal game against Roanoke, the team tied 2-2, which advanced them to the semifinals against Virginia Wesleyan. After a game-winning goal from junior Melanie Waters, the Eagles paired up against undefeated Lynchburg for the ODAC championship.

   That was the first time in school history that the women’s soccer team had ever made it to the ODAC championship.

    “I couldn’t believe that we were actually playing for the ODAC championship,” said Harris. “We had worked so hard all season and it was finally paying off for us.”

   During a hard fought battle against Lynchburg, the Eagles came up short and ended up losing the match 2-0. Three Bridgewater players—senior Jessica Sites, junior Melanie Waters and sophomore Elizabeth Stump—were named to the ODAC all-tournament team.

   That marked off the last game for the six seniors on the squad, who finished off their careers with 47 wins under their belts.

   The future looks bright for the Eagles in the 2013 season, returning 23 of the 29 players from this year’s squad.

    “I’m already looking forward to next season with all my girls,” said Theisen. “If we continue to work hard in the offseason and keep playing together over the summer, we should be pretty hard to stop next year.”

   The Bridgewater women’s basketball team has been working really hard for a season predicted to be a successful one.

   “I think we’re really excited. We have our two seniors, Katie Hottinger and Jess Mullen.  Jess is back, getting back into shape which is good. They are the captains this year and I think they will do a tremendous job with leadership,” said head coach Jean Willi.

   The team has four new freshman, two guards and two posts.  The new additions are Jessi Strom, OShene Kelley, Gabrielle Spinner, and Cassidy Burkholder.

   “I’m really enjoying being part of the team—all the girls are great. After our first scrimmage I think we are looking really good and I’m excited to see how we’re going to do. Hopefully we can live up to our fourth ranked standard,” Burkholder said.

   Junior Holly Morgan said that the freshman add a lot to the team. She explained that it hurts them slightly having only one actual point guard but they have people stepping up and helping out.

   Coach Willi said that the team’s practices have been upbeat and very positive. They have been working really hard, so she is excited to see what that will transfer into.

   Last year the top eight teams were in the ODAC tournament. However, the format has changed and this year everyone gets to go. However, only the top four get a bye on the first day of play.

   “So right away I’m thinking that we want to be in that top four. The conference championship is a goal every year,” explained Willi.

   In pre-season, the team was ranked number four. Guilford was ranked first, followed by Emory and Henry, Virginia Wesleyan, and then Bridgewater.

   “I think the conference has gotten better every year, but I like the chemistry, I like the combinations, and I think if we play well down the stretch then we will have a shot to win it,” said Willi.

   “Our main goal is to win as many games as we can and hopefully get that ring,” Morgan said.

   The first regular season game for the lady Eagles will be on Friday at 7:30 pm and on Saturday, both at Marymount University.