YORK, Pa. - Paige Mikesell won three titles, successfully defending two individual crowns, as IUP women's swimming grabbed the team lead on the first day of the 2021 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships Friday at the Graham Aquatic Center.
The Crimson Hawks scored 800 points during Friday's two sessions. Bloomsburg is second with 646 points, Shippensburg is third with 479 points, and Gannon is fourth with 398 points. IUP is looking for its first conference championship since 1999.
Due to the pandemic, this year's championships has a different look as the men's teams competed on the first two days (Wednesday and Thursday), while the women swim on days three and four. All events during the week are timed finals with no prelim heats.
IUP tallied four victories (three individual, one relay) and added 16 more top-8 finishes during a dominant opening to the conference championships.
Mikesell defended her 2020 conference championships in the 200 yard IM and the 100 yard butterfly while also helping the 400 yard medley relay to a PSAC title. She won the 200 IM during the morning session, touching the wall in 2:02.74. The 100 fly win came in the evening session with a time of 54.43.
The evening session was capped with IUP's 400 medley relay victory, as
Parker Fanella,
Erin Moyer, Mikesell and
Iliana Oikonomou posted a time of 3:49.02.
Rachel Johnson won her first career conference title in the evening session, posting a time of 4:30.48 in the 400 IM.
Other individual scorers
Olivia Santee (1000 free, 400 IM),
Clara Gracia (1000 free, 200 free),
Kiera Scudder (1000 free),
Havannah Suarez (1000 free), Johnson (200 IM),
Claire Mikesell (200 IM, 200 free),
Amber Baldani (200 IM, 200 free), Moyer (200 IM),
Sara Tipmongkol (200 IM, 400 IM),
Rachel Blackburn (200 IM, 100 fly), Oikonomou (50 free, 100 fly),
Emma Winchell (50 free, 100 fly),
Michelle Lopes (50 free, 200 free),
Kaylee Kassa (400 IM, 100 fly),
Brooke Christian (400 IM), Fanella (200 free),
Morgan Furlong (100 fly, 200 free)
Up next
The fourth day of the PSAC Championships wraps up Saturday in York. The first session begins at 10 a.m. while the evening session starts at 5 p.m.
Follow
For coverage of the IUP men's and women's swimming programs, follow the Crimson Hawks on Twitter and Instagram @IUPswimming and online at IUPAthletics.com.
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