YORK, Pa. – IUP sophomore Paige Mikesell continues to star at the 2020 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Swimming Championships, breaking another record while hitting an NCAA automatic time Friday at the Graham Aquatic Center.
 
Mikesell broke the 200 yard butterfly conference meet record twice on the third day of the championships, first swimming a 2:00.25 in the prelims before breaking her own mark with a 1:59.22 in Friday night finals.
 
The race came down to the very end as she edged West Chester's Ann Carozza by .03 seconds for her third individual title – and fourth overall – of the weekend.
 
In addition to the record and the win, Mikesell also hit an NCAA Division II automatic qualifying time with her performance.
 
Classmate Rachel Johnson also posted an NCAA qualifying time Friday, getting a B standard in the 100 yard breaststroke. Her time of 1:03.14 was good for second overall.
 
In addition to Mikesell and Johnson, five other Crimson Hawks had top-8 finishes on day three.
 
Gabrielle Gironda and Kaylee Kassa joined Mikesell in the 200 butterfly, finishing in fourth and seventh place, respectively. Gironda swam a 2:08.90 while Kassa had a time of 2:13.06.
 
Amber Baldani finished fourth in the 100 backstroke with a 57.62 and Paige McCullough was eighth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:05.05. For the IUP men, Ryan Hartmann finished seventh in the 100 backstroke with a 51.92.
 
Team scores
IUP's women finished their second straight day in second place, widening their distance with third place Bloomsburg. The Hawks head into the fourth day with 894 points while Bloomsburg has 760. West Chester leads with 1248.5 points.
 
The IUP men are sixth with 182 points. West Chester leads with 632.
 
Up next
The PSAC Championships wraps up Saturday with the prelims at 10 a.m. and the finals at 5 p.m.
 
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