GROVE CITY, Pa. (Feb. 12) – The Saint Vincent women's swimming team closed out the 2022 Presidents' Athletic Conference Championships in fine fashion, winning three events and seeing two of its members recognized with the league's highest honors, as the Bearcats placed second overall, matching their highest finish at the conference meet in program history.
After earning four individual titles and swimming as part of one winning relay squad, SVC junior Lauren Connors was crowned the PAC Championship Most Valuable Performer, while Bearcat head coach Josh Gurekovich was named the conference's Coach of the Year.
The Bearcats totaled 765.5 points over the three-day event to finish behind only host Grove City College. The second-place finish matches the highest ever in team history at the conference event, equaling the 2018 and 2016 teams' runner-up finishes.
Saint Vincent opened the final night in grand style, with freshman Sarah Alexander earning gold in the 1,650 freestyle in a time of 18:34.65 to win by a 12-second margin. She was one of three teammates to earn a top-10 finish in the event, with Lauren Krecota placing seventh (19:16.94) and Emma Morgan ninth in 19:43.83. In all, six SVC swimmers scored in the event, with Kelsey Sanborn taking 11th (20:09.88), Elise Debrot 15th (20:46.38) and Amanda Pugliano 16th (20:56.02).
The Bearcats promptly picked up their second win of the evening in the very next event, with Lauren Connors winning the PAC title in the 200 backstroke for the third consecutive season, posting a time of 2:07.20, more than two seconds ahead of her closest competitor and one-half second faster than her winning time in 2021. The 200 back also saw SVC swimmers occupy three of the top four spots in the 'B' final, with Julia Mikita placing second in her race, and 10th overall, in 2:19.33, Brooke Himich 11th in 2:23.02 and Kelsey Sanborn 12th in 2:23.99.
Saint Vincent was again well-represented in the evening's third event, the 100 freestyle, placing three swimmers in the top eight, and four in the top nine. Erica Steele led the charge, placing third in 54.09 seconds, while Abby Leskovansky took sixth (54.53 seconds) and Cara Luallen eighth (55.75 seconds). Katie Kozy took the top spot in the 'B' final, touching in 55.44 seconds.
Madison Cassidy earned SVC's third win of the night, turning in a time of 2:28.39 to top the 200 breaststroke field by more than 2.5 seconds. Sara Basala placed third in the event in 2:32.73.
Krecota paced Saint Vincent in the 200 butterfly, taking fifth in a time of 2:20.72, while Callysta Fontanazza (ninth – 2:23.90), Lily Holsey (13th – 2:39.78), Amanda Pugliano (15th – 2:41.82) and Alyson Krecota (16th – 2:52.57) all swam well in the 'B' final.
The 2022 championship weekend ended with the 400 freestyle relay, and Connors, Kozy, Alexander and Steele teamed up to place second in a time of 3:41.47.
Connors is the first swimmer in SVC program history to be named the PAC's top performer, while this also marks Gurekovich's first PAC Women's Coach of the Year accolade. Pugliano was a third Bearcat to receive conference honors following the championship, as she was named to the PAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
Following Grove City (1,048 points) and Saint Vincent (765.5), Westminster placed third (659), Chatham fourth (369), Washington & Jefferson fifth (330), Franciscan sixth (272.5) and Bethany seventh (7).
The Bearcats will be back in the pool on Saturday, Feb. 19, when they travel to Gambier, Ohio, to take part in the Kenyon College Fast-Chance Invitational, beginning at 1 p.m.
Highlights (courtesy of the Presidents' Athletic Conference)
