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Washington & Jefferson Men, Grove City Women Jump Out to PAC Leads

PAC Men's Race

The Washington & Jefferson College men finished with three of top five finishers in the 11-dive, three-meter event Thursday at the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Swimming & Diving Championships and will carry an eight-point advantage into Friday's preliminary rounds.

The conference championships are being held in conjunction with Grove City's 26th annual James E. Longnecker Swimming and Diving Invitational and the 10th annual Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championships at the James E. Longnecker Competition Pool. Longnecker Pool has been the home of the league's swimming and diving championships since 1990.

W&J leads the five-team PAC field with 288 points. Defending PAC champion Westminster College is second (180), Grove City is third (154), Saint Vincent College is fourth (136) and Bethany College is fifth (75).

W&J junior Josh Vasko (McKeesport, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) earned the league title in the 11-dive, three-meter event (396.45). He swept last year's one- and three-meter events en route to capturing his second-straight PAC Diver of the Year award. On Saturday, Vasko will look to become the first to win three-straight titles on the one-meter board since Grove City's Joe Riddell swept both events from 2006-08. Freshman Isaac Penascino (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) finished second (338.35) while freshman Jordan Hosfelt (Connellsville, Pa./Connellsville) was fourth (269.35).

The Saint Vincent men picked up their first-ever PAC title in the 200 free relay (1:25.32). Members of the relay included freshman Jacob Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brashear), junior Xander Emili (Anchorage, Alaska/South Anchorage), sophomore Matt Tashima (Visalia, Calif./Mount Whitney) and sophomore Alex Bolen(Pitcairn, Pa./Gateway). The Bearcats' victory snapped a five-year title run by Grove City.

Westminster sophomore Mitch Stahara (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) claimed the PAC title in the 500 free (4:40.00) after finishing as the runner-up in the event a season ago. Bethany freshman Cheyne Stresky (Oxford, Mich./Oxford), this year's runner-up in the 500 free (4:42.39), became the highest-finishing Bison swimmer at the conference championships since Stephen Zinz (2nd) in the 100 fly in 2006.

Saint Vincent's Emili won the league title in the 200 IM (1:56.62) after finishing third in the event last year.

Westminster freshman Michael Spencer (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield) swam to the PAC title in the men's 50 free (21.17)

Preliminaries in the 200 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, women's 11-dive, three-meter and men's 11-dive, one-meter events are scheduled for 10 a.m., with the event finals slated to get underway at 6 p.m.


PAC Women's Race

The Grove City College women claimed a pair of individual titles during the first evening of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Swimming & Diving Championships Thursday and will carry a 63-point lead into Friday morning's preliminary rounds.

The conference championships are being held in conjunction with Grove City's 26th annual James E. Longnecker Swimming and Diving Invitational and the 10th annual Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championships at the James E. Longnecker Competition Pool. Longnecker Pool has been the home of the league's swimming and diving championships since 1990.

Grove City leads the six-team PAC field with 251 points. Saint Vincent College is second (188), Westminster College is third (133), Washington & Jefferson College is fourth (132), Chatham University is fifth (123) and Bethany College is sixth (55).

Grove City, looking for its eighth-straight PAC team championship, picked up individual championships from senior Megan Bilko (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) and junior Molly Gallant (Severna Park, Pa./Severna Park). Bilko swam to her third conference title in the 500 (5:01.33) while Gallant won the league championship in the 50 free (23.76), snapping Saint Vincent junior Marissa Frollo's (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) bid for three straight titles in the event.

Saint Vincent won its third-straight PAC title in the 200 free relay (1:37.92). Members of the relay included freshman Maddie Bartrug (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette), freshman Cassie Trudel (North Smithfield, R.I./North Smithfield), Frollo and freshman Ciara Lewis (Buena Vista, Pa./Elizabeth Forward). It is Frollo's third-straight title as a member of the Bearcats' 200 free relay. Saint Vincent sophomore Kelly Kramer (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) won the PAC title in the200 IM (2:10.56).

Chatham senior Alexis Rectenwald (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) won the PAC title in the 11-dive, one-meter event with score of 484.35 points, setting new PAC open, PAC Championship, Longnecker Pool and Longnecker Invitational records. She also won the one-meter title in 2014.

Westminster captured its second-straight conference title in the 400 medley relay (3:58.60). Members of the Titans' relay were senior Kelsey Reott (Butler, Pa./Slippery Rock), junior Samantha Tower ( Export, Pa./Franklin Regional), sophomore Megan Douds (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) and junior Anne Tillie(Fallston, Md./Fallston).

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