GROVE CITY, Pa. (Feb. 11) – The Saint Vincent women's swimming team maintained its hold on second place after day two of the three-day Presidents' Athletic Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, hosted by Grove City College.
 
After two days of competition, Saint Vincent has accumulated a total of 514.5 points, second behind only Grove City (705.5) in the seven-team field.
 
The Bearcats opened the evening with a strong showing in the 200 medley relay. In the 'A' final, the foursome of Lauren Connors, Sara Basala, Katie Kozy and Erica Steele placed second in a time of 1:46.82, less than one-tenth of a second off of first place. Saint Vincent did have the top finish in the 'B' final, as Abby Leskovansky, Madison Cassidy, Callysta Fontanazza and Cara Luallen placed ninth overall in 1:50.43.

 

Less than 24 hours after earning PAC gold in the 200 individual medley and as part of the conference-champion 200 freestyle relay squad, Connors earned her third gold medal of the weekend with a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke in a time of 58.37 seconds. She was joined in the 'A' final by Leskovansky, who took fifth in 1:01.60, while Julia Mikita placed 10^th overall in 1:04.95.

Basala (pictured right) earned gold in the 100 breaststroke producing a winning time of 1:07.47, with Cassidy placing fourth (1:08.27) and Lily Holsey ninth (1:13.76). 
 
SVC produced two of the top three finishers in the 100 butterfly finals, with Fontanazza placing second (58.57 seconds) and Kozy third (59.96), while Erica Steele (1:59.16) and Sarah Alexander (2:02.61) placed fourth and eighth, respectively, in the 200 freestyle.
 
Lauren Krecota was the Bearcats' top finisher in the 400 individual medley, taking fifth in 4:53.94, while Julia Mikita topped the 'B' final with a ninth-place overall finish in 5:06.27.
 
The evening concluded with the Bearcat quartet of Alexander, Mikita, Luallen and Krecota placing third in the 800 freestyle relay in 8:23.82, while teammates Sara Basala, Emma Morgan, Lily Holsey and Kelsey Sanborn placed 11^th in 8:45.68.
 
Following Grove City and SVC, Westminster sits in third place with 443.5 points, Chatham fourth (250), Washington & Jefferson fifth (232), Franciscan sixth (202.5) and Bethany seventh (3).
 
The third and final day of the 2022 PAC Championships begins with 11 a.m. prelims on Saturday, with finals slated to begin at 6 p.m.