Feb. 24, 2008

Final Stats

(Mechanicsburg, Pa.): Clarion's Lori Leitzinger (Sr. State College) was 2nd on Sunday night in the 200 backstroke as the Golden Eagle women finished second as a team at the 33rd Annual PSAC Women's Swimming Championships held February 21-24 at Cumberland Valley High School.

West Chester won the team title with 703 points, while Clarion was second with 523.5 points and IUP was third with 407. The thirteen team field finished with Edinboro in fourth with 370, Bloomsburg fifth with 328, Shippensburg sixth with 315, Kutztown seventh with 295, California eighth at 252, Lock Haven ninth with 119, Millersville tenth with 113.5, East Stroudsburg eleventh with 86, Slippery Rock twelfth at 79 and Mansfield thirteenth with 38 points.

In the 200 backstroke, senior Lori Leitzinger finished a strong second with a time of 2:04.50, while teammate Rebecca Burgess (So. Gibsonia) was 5th (2:11.95).

Denise Simens (Jr. Hollister, Ca.) led the Eagles in the 200 breaststroke finishing third with a time of 2:24.60.

Kaitlyn Johnson (Fr. Uniontown) posted a fourth place finish in the 100 freestyle (52.28), while Gina Mattucci (Fr. Jeannette) was 7th (53.56) and Kelly Connolly (Fr. Cranberry Twp.) was 12th (54.49).

In the 1650 free Stevie Coble (Sr. Akron) was sixth (18:15.48), and teammates Laura Herron (Fr. Parma, Oh.) were 7th (18:15.55) and Morgan Berkowitz (Jr. York) eighth (18:18.53) respectively.

Margaret Bentley (So. York) earned points for the Golden Eagles in the 200 butterfly, finishing 12th with a time of 2:19.30.

In the final relay, the 400 free relay, the Eagles finished strong with an NCAA Division II National Qualifying time of 3:31.98 in placing second. Leading the way were Johnson, Leitzinger, Connolly and Mattucci.

West Chester defended their 2007 PSAC title, while Clarion last won the PSAC's in 2006. The Golden Eagles have won 26 of the 33 PSAC Titles decided. The Golden Eagles will now compete in the NCAA D-II Nationals March 12-15 in Columbia, Missouri.