YORK, Pa. – IUP men's and women's swimming finished up the four-day 2023 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships, held at York's YMCA Aquatic Club. IUP posted a pair of NCAA B Cuts on Saturday, with the women's team finishing second in the overall team standings. The men's squad held its positioning in fifth to close out the championships.
Rachel Johnson received plenty of recognition on Saturday, repeating as the PSAC Champion Scholar and winning the 200 breast with an NCAA B Cut standard time of 2:17.12.
Johnson has earned back-to-back PSAC Champion Scholar awards, presented annually to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at the league championships. Johnson carries a perfect 4.0 GPA while earning her degree in hospitality management.
In the pool, she won both the preliminaries and finals of the 200 breast, setting NCAA B Cut marks in both races.
Paige Mikesell added an NCAA B Cut standard for the Hawks in the 100 free in both the prelims and finals, with her prelim time of 51.11 marking the faster of the two.
Miksell was fifth overall in the 100 free.
Thomas McGillan (45.71) and
Luke Mikesell (45.86) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the men's 100 free.
"Both teams showed great toughness and perseverance throughout the season and into the championship," IUP ehad coach
Chris Villa said. "Their hard work and dedication to each other and the process as a whole really showed through during this week."
Olivia Santee nabbed sixth in the grueling 1650 free, posting a 17:47.27 for the Hawks.
Amber Baldani earned runner-up honors in the women's 200 back with a 2:04.75, while teammate
Parker Fanella followed in fourth with her time of 2:06.91.
IUP finished sixth in the women's 400 relay in 3:33.64, while the men's group of McGillan,
Alexander Roth,
Ryan Hartmann and Mikesell rounded out the championships with a fourth-place school record 3:03.87 in the same event.
Up Next
The NCAA Championships are March 8-11 in Indianapolis, Indiana. A list of IUP qualifiers and participants will be announced when released by the NCAA.
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.
