West Chester Men and Women Bolster Leads on Third Day of PSAC Swimming Championships
Feb. 23, 2008
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. - The West Chester University men's and women's swimming teams continued their dominance at the 2008 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Swimming Championships by winning eight of the 14 events contested inside the natatorium at Cumberland Valley High School on Saturday.
The West Chester men extended their lead to an impressive 159.5 points with five more victories while the women doubled their lead over second-place Clarion from 50 points on Friday to 102.5 on Saturday.
Clarion is also second on the men's side with a three-day total of 460.5 points which is 169 in front of third-place Shippensburg who has 291.5 points. Kutztown is in fourth at 243 while Edinboro and Indiana (Pa.), who are separated by just six points, are in fifth and sixth, respectively.
Clarion's women have totaled 369.5 points to hold a sizeable lead over third-place IUP who has 288 and is just 13 points ahead of fourth-place Edinboro. Fifth through seventh-place is a difference of only five points as Shippensburg has 225, followed by Bloomsburg (224) and Kutztown (220).
A symbol of West Chester's dominance on the men's side came in the 100-yard butterfly where the Golden Rams swept the top-five spots led by Ben Kuntz who took the title in 50.50 seconds, a mere 0.01 ahead of Phil Luzny who touched the wall in 50.51 seconds. Devin Canfield was also under 51 seconds with a time of 50.80 seconds.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Marek Malopolski nearly broke his own championship meet record in winning his second championship in the last three years in an NCAA 'A' cut time of 56.91 seconds. He set the current meet record of 56.55 seconds when he won the event in 2005 as a member of IUP's team. Malopolski, who also owns the all-time record, did not compete in the event last year.
Malopolski teamed with Canfield, Bill Marcum and Brendan Fanslau to win the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:33.83 seconds after the Golden Rams finished second behind Clarion a year ago.
In the 400-yard individual medley, Max Bernardes won his second-straight championship and led a 1-2 West Chester finish by taking the title in 4:09.64, just ahead of teammate Joe Watts who finished in 4:09.95. Both were 'B' cut times. Bernardes was also a member of the Golden Rams' victory in the 800-yard freestyle relay, joining Rod King, Chris Salomone and Matt Golebiewski to post an 'A' cut time of 6:50.01.
Clarion's Ryan Thiel won his second individual title at this week's championships after taking first in the 200 free ahead of Golebiewski who also finished second a year ago. Thiel finished fifth last year.
The only other non-West Chester winner Saturday night included IUP's Pawel Glowiak who won the championship in the 100 back for the second consecutive year after posting an 'A' cut time of 50.27 seconds, just missing a meet record by only 0.03 seconds.
West Chester was also impressive on the women's side, winning three events, highlighted by Jackie Borkowski's new PSAC record in the 100 back which broke her previous record set last year. She won her second-straight title, finishing in 56.51 seconds and surpassing her old mark of 56.91 seconds. Lock Haven's Amanda Terray was also impressive in the event, finishing second in an 'A' cut time of 57.56 seconds.
Borkowski would later team with Megan Bauer, Kristen Montello and Danielle Ierley in winning the 800 free relay with an 'A' cut time of 7:42.34 that was over eight seconds faster than second-place Bloomsburg.
In the 200-yard medley relay, Bauer, Kate Jones, Rachael Hale and Erin Fischer took first, edging out Clarion's Lori Leitzinger, Denise Simens, Clarissa Wetzel and Gina Mattucci by 0.75 seconds.
Edinboro had two winners on the women's side in Chelsea Grosser and Brooke Heath. Grosser posted the only NCAA cut time in winning the 400 IM ahead of Shippensburg's Molly McNeil while Heath posted an 'A' cut in the 100-yard breaststroke, capturing first in 1:04.54.
Clarion's Kaitlyn Johnson and Esther Bosch of California (Pa.) were also individual winners on Saturday. Johnson edged out Mandi Foltz of Shippensburg in the 100 fly by 0.31 seconds while Bosch was just shy of a new championship record in the 200 free, finishing in 1:51.28. The meet record is 1:51.23.
The 2008 PSAC Swimming Championships conclude on Sunday with prelim competition beginning at 10 a.m. and the finals slated for 6 p.m.
- PSAC Swimming -
