The Grove City College men's swimming and diving program reclaimed the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Swimming and Diving Championship Saturday evening Saturday evening at the James E. Longnecker Competition Pool in Grove City.
The conference title is Grove City's 18 since claiming its first league crown in 1985.
Grove City amassed a three-day point total of 773 to earn this year's title. Westminster College, last year's conference champion, finished in second place with 718 points. Washington & Jefferson College was third with 497 points, followed by Saint Vincent College in fourth place with 425 points and Bethany College in fifth place with 173 points.
The PAC Championships were held in conjunction with Grove City's 24th annual James E. Longnecker Swimming and Diving Invitational and the eighth annual Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championships at the Longnecker Pool. This year's event marks the 51st anniversary of the PAC Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.
Longnecker Pool has served as the home of the conference's swimming and diving championships since 1990.
Westminster junior Steven Brooks (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) was tabbed the PAC's Swimmer of the Year, while W&J freshman Josh Vasko (McKeesport, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) was named the PAC's Diver of the Year.
PAC Swimming Coach of the Year honors went to Westminster 29th-year head coach Rob Klamut, while the PAC's Diving Coach of the Year award went to W&J seventh-year assistant coach Vic Galati.
Brooks, also named the league's Swimmer of the Year in 2013, finished first in the finals of Saturday's 200 backstroke for the second-straight year after registering a winning time of 1:49.72, establishing new PAC (meet and open) and Longnecker Invitational records while also attaining the NCAA Division III provisional qualifying standard. On Thursday, Brooks posted a time of 21.24 to claim the 50 freestyle and swam successful legs on the Titans' winning 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. He was also a member of the Titans' winning 400 freestyle relay to cap off the evening Saturday.
Vasko is the fourth-straight W&J diver to win a PAC title on the one-meter board. He totaled an 11-dive score of 448.50 Saturday evening, establishing a new Longnecker Invitational record.
Westminster junior Nicholas Smith (Indiana, Pa./Indiana) collected the first individual title of the evening on Saturday, winning the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 16:43.99.
W&J freshman Chris Ratliff (Eldersburg, Md./Century) clocked a 47.32 in the finals of the 100 freestyle to secure the title.
Westminster sophomore Matthew Baurle (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford) made it back-to-back titles in the 200 breaststroke after posting a winning time of 2:04.11 while also clocking a Division III provisional qualifying time.
Grove City freshman Jeremy Kim (Frederick, Md./New Life Christian) claimed the individual title in the 200 butterfly after clocking a time of 1:53.10 in the championship finals. Kim's finish also met the Division III provisional qualifying time.
Westminster wrapped up the evening by winning the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:07.54. Brooks was joined on the winning relay by sophomore Max Hague (Canton, Ohio/GlenOak), freshman Dan Pletz (Venetia, Pa./Peters Twp.) and junior Jake Pletz (Venetia, Pa./Peters Twp.).
PAC Diver of the Year (Men): Washington & Jefferson freshman Josh Vasko
PAC Diving Coach of the Year (Men): Washington & Jefferson's Vic Galati
PAC Swimmer of the Year (Men): Westminster junior Steven Brooks
PAC Swimming Coach of the Year (Women): Westminster's Rob Klamut
The Grove City College women's swimming and diving team claimed the 2013-14 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Women's Swimming and Diving Championship Saturday evening at the James E. Longnecker Competition Pool in Grove City.
The league title is Grove City's 12th overall since winning its first PAC swimming and diving crown in 1991.
Grove City finished the three-day championship with 854 points. Westminster College finished in second place with 794 points, followed by Saint Vincent College in third place with 526 points. Washington & Jefferson College was fifth with 407 points, while Chatham University finished fifth with 257 points and Bethany College finished sixth with 203 points.
The PAC Championships were held in conjunction with Grove City's 24th annual James E. Longnecker Swimming and Diving Invitational and the eighth annual Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championships at the Longnecker Pool. This year's event marks the 29th anniversary of the PAC Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.
Longnecker Pool has served as the home of the conference's swimming and diving championships since 1990.
Grove City sophomore Megan Bilko (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) was named the PAC Women's Swimmer of the Year, while W&J junior Jennifer Suder (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) was selected as the PAC Women's Diver of the Year.
PAC Women's Swimming Coach of the Year honors went to Grove City fifth-year head coach Dave Fritz, while PAC Women's Diving Coach of the Year accolades went to W&J seventh-year assistant coach Vic Galati.
Bilko opened Saturday's championship session with a win in the 1,650 freestyle, finishing in a pool, conference and Longnecker record time of 17:08.42. Her time also surpassed the NCAA Division III B-cut standard and was 2.18 seconds faster than last year's final qualifier at the Division III National Championships. She also won the event in 2013, becoming the league's first back-to-back champion in the 1,650 since Westminster's Emily Dressler (2009-10).
Bilko also claimed the 500 freestyle (4:58.96) title on Thursday and the 400 individual medley (4:28.18) title Friday. She also swam successful legs on Grove City's first-place 400 medley relay (3:56.09), 800 freestyle relay (7:42.23) and anchored the Wolverine's winning 400 freestyle relay (3:30.78) Saturday.
Grove City junior Lauren Cassano (Venetia, Pa./Peters Twp.) claimed her third-straight conference title in the 200 backstroke after clocking a Division III B-cut standard of 2:05.32 in the finals.
Grove City junior Tori Baker (Fairfax, Va./Robinson) posted a winning time of 52.85 in the 100 freestyle after swimming to a third-place finish a year ago.
Grove City junior Keegan Reed (Greencastle, Pa./James Buchanan) swam to an individual title in the 200 breaststroke with a winning time of 2:27.43, edging last year's winner, Grove City senior Kaley Hess (Reamstown, Pa./Cocalico), by just three hundredths of a second.
Saint Vincent senior Alyssa Taylor (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) won the 200 butterfly in Division III provisional qualifying time of 2:27.43. Taylor had finished third in the event in 2012 and 2013.
Suder scored a conference, 17-year pool and meet record while attaining a Division III B-cut score with her 11-dive preliminary dive total of 474.65 points in the three-meter diving competition. Suder entered the finals as the number one seed, where she went on to compile 513.50 points to claim her second-straight title on the three-meter board.
The quartet of Cassano, Baker, freshman Abby Jank (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) and Bilko put an exclamation point on the evening by winning the 400 freestyle relay event with a Division III provisional qualifying time of 3:30.78.
PAC Diver of the Year (Women): Washington & Jefferson junior Jennifer Suder
PAC Diving Coach of the Year (Women): Washington & Jefferson's Vic Galati
PAC Swimmer of the Year (Women): Grove City's Megan Bilko
PAC Swimming Coach of the Year (Women): Grove City's Dave Fritz
