Westminster men secure PAC Swimming & Diving championship 2/11/2017 10:43:27 PM Thursday results Friday results Saturday results PAC Championships site GROVE CITY, Pa. (pacathletics.org) – The Westminster College men posted their third-straight Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Swimming & Diving Championship Saturday evening. The team title is Westminster’s eighth. The conference championships were held at Grove City College’s James E. Longnecker Competition Pool. Longnecker Pool has been the home of the league’s swimming and diving championships since 1990. Westminster led the five-team championship field with 929.50 points. Grove City finished as the runner-up with 825.50 points. Saint Vincent College was third (598.50), Washington & Jefferson College was fourth (446.50) and Bethany College was fifth (188). Westminster junior Mitch Stahara (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park) claimed PAC Most Valuable Performer in Swimming honors. Saturday, he earned his second-straight PAC title in the 100 freestyle with a winning time of 45.77 seconds. Thursday, he swam on Westminster’s winning 200 freestyle (1:23.80) and 400 medley (3:23.71) relays while posting his second-straight league championship in the 500 freestyle (4:40.02). Friday, he won his third-straight PAC championship in the 200 freestyle with a NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time of one minute, 40.21 seconds and swam on the Titans’ winning 800 freestyle relay (6:52.71). W&J sophomore Theo Skoric (Vanderbilt, Pa. / Laurel Highlands) was named the PAC’s Most Valuable Performer in Diving after winning the 11-dive, one meter event Thursday with a score of 460.95 points and the 11-dive, three-meter event Saturday with a score of 482.25 points. His efforts on both the one-meter and three-meter boards established new Longnecker Pool records and met the qualifying standard for the NCAA Division III Regional Championships. Westminster first-year head coach Pat Smith collected PAC Swimming Coach of the Year honors. Smith had previously served as an assistant with the Titans for seven seasons. PAC Diving Coach of the Year honors went to W&J's Vic Galati, now in his 10th year with the Presidents. He has combined to win 13 Diving Coach of the Year citations. W&J was voted the recipient of the PAC’s Team Sportsmanship award. Westminster freshman Aaron Dunlany (Boardman, Ohio / Boardman) won the 1650 freestyle with a time of 16 minutes, 29.70 seconds. Saint Vincent junior Alex Bolen (Pitcairn, Pa. / Gateway), last year’s event champion, was the runner-up (16:38.69). Westminster sophomore David Peffer (Ellwood City, Pa. / Riverside) cruised to his second-straight conference title in the 200 backstroke, finishing with a Division III provisional qualifying time of one minute, 49.98 seconds. W&J senior Nicholas Willison (Rockford, Mich. / Rockford) was the runner-up (1:52.81). Grove City freshman Ben Slate (Pfafftown, N.C. / Homeschooled) captured the 200 breaststroke with a Division III provisional qualifying time of two minutes, 4.76 seconds. Slate also won the 100 breaststroke (57.37) on Friday. Westminster freshman Thomas Somora (Grove City, Pa. / Grove City) was the runner-up (2:08.85). Grove City senior Jeremy Kim (Frederick, Md. / New Life Christian) won his fourth-straight PAC title in the 200 butterfly with a time of one minute, 54.02 seconds. Westminster junior Brad Kolesar (West Mifflin, Pa. / West Mifflin) was the runner-up (1:55.38). Saint Vincent closed the meet with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay (3:06.28). Members of the winning relay were sophomore Jacob Davis (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Brashear), senior Xander Emili (Anchorage, Alaska / South Anchorage), junior Matt Tashima (Visalia, Calif. / Mount Whitney) and Bolen.