PAC Men's Race
The Westminster College men swept both relays and all five individual events at the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Swimming & Diving Championships Friday evening to take the top spot among the five league teams heading into Saturday's third and final full day of competition.
The conference championships are being held in conjunction with Grove City College'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.
Westminster, the defending conference champion, leads the five-team PAC field with 487 points. Grove City is second (368), W&J is third (354), Saint Vincent College is fourth (331) and Bethany College is fifth (157).
The Titans won their fourth-straight PAC title in the 200 medley relay (1:33.52). Members of the winning relay were senior Austin Karper (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle), senior Matt Baurle (Jeannette, Pa./Penn Trafford), sophomore Brad Kolesar (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin) and freshman Michael Spencer (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield).
Westminster also won the title in the 800 free relay (6:58.74) to cap off the evening Friday. Members of the relay included sophomore Mitch Stahara (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park), sophomore Daniel Bogen (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield), freshman Griffin Nincke (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) and freshman David Peffer(Ellwood City, Pa./Riverside).
Headlining Friday's individual event winners was Baurle, who won his fourth-straight PAC title in the 100 breast (B-cut, 56.06). Stahara won his second-straight league title in the 200 free (1:41.27) while Kolesar won his second-straight conference title in the 100 fly (50.80).
Simmons swam to the PAC title in the 400 IM (4:11.22) while Peffer earned a league championship in the 100 back (51.50).
Preliminaries in the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relay, 1650 free and men's 11-dive, one-meter event are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, with the event finals slated to get underway at 5:30 p.m.
PAC Women's Race
The Grove City College women swam to league titles in one relay and a pair of individual events at the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Swimming & Diving Championships Friday evening and will carry a 42-point lead over second-place Saint Vincent College into Saturday's third and final full day of competition.
The conference championships are being held in conjunction with Grove City College'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, looking for its eighth-straight conference title, leads the six-team PAC field with 499 points. Saint Vincent is second (457), Westminster College is third (432), Washington & Jefferson College is fourth (272), Chatham University is fifth (240) and Bethany College is sixth (89).
Grove City swam to its 10th-straight PAC title in the 800 free relay (7:49.77). Members of the relay included senior Megan Bilko (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan), junior Maddie Van Dyke (Fleming Island, Fla./Fleming Island), junior Megan Smith (Tyler, Texas/Kolbe Academy) and junior Abby Jank(Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington).
Bilko, the PAC Women's Swimmer of the Year award winner in 2014, won her second conference title in the 400 IM title (B-cut, 4:28.53). Freshman Megan Crutcher (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) claimed the league championship in the 100 breast (1:06.16).
Saint Vincent posted league titles in the 200 medley relay, the 200 free and the 100 back. Members of the winning 200 medley relay included freshman Sarah Sheldon (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway), freshman Grace Reynolds (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Salem), junior Marissa Frollo (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) and freshman Ciara Lewis (Buena Vista, Pa./Elizabeth Forward). Freshman Maddie Bartrug (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) swam to the title in the 200 free (1:54.62) while Sheldon captured the conference title in the 100 back (59.14).
Westminster sophomore Megan Douds (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park), the defending PAC Women's Swimmer of the Year, captured her second-straight conference championship in the 100 fly (58.08).
