Grove City women roll to PAC Swimming & Diving title

Grove City women roll to PAC Swimming & Diving title

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Saturday's results
Full results
Championship central

GROVE CITY, Pa. (pacathletics.org) – The Grove City College women captured their league-best 16th Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Swimming & Diving Championship Saturday evening.

The team title is Grove City’s 10th straight.

The conference championships were held at Grove City’s James E. Longnecker Competition Pool. Longnecker Pool has been the home of the league’s swimming and diving championships since 1990.

Grove City led the six-team championship field with 853 points. Saint Vincent College was the runner-up with 713 points and was followed by Westminster College in third (691), Chatham University in fourth (400), Washington & Jefferson College in fifth (248) and Bethany College in sixth (127).

PAC Swimmer of the Year honors went to Grove City sophomore Anne Shirley Dassow (Lookout Mountain, Tenn. | Chattanooga Christian) for the second-straight year. She is the first women’s swimmer to collect back-to-back MVP honors since W&J’s Kaitlyn Orstein won four straight from 2005-08.

Saturday, Dassow won the 200 fly for the second-straight year with a time of 2 minutes, 1.10 seconds. Her time set new Longnecker Pool, PAC open and PAC Championship records.

Friday, Dassow won the 100 fly for the second-straight year with a time of 55.11. Her time set new pool and PAC Championship records and was a Division III provisional qualifying time. She also swam on Grove City’s winning 800 free relay (7:52.05). The relay also included sophomore Leona Bently (Powell, Ohio | Homeschooled), sophomore Kimmi Wendelschaefer (Grove City, Pa. | Grove City) and sophomore Britt Byer (Canonsburg, Pa. | Canon-McMillan).

Thursday, Dassow won the 50 free with a time of 23.76 and swam on the Wolverines’ winning 200 free (1:37.16) and 400 medley (3:54.55) relays. Sophomore Danielle Ledyard (Greensburg, Pa. | Hempfield), freshman Denali Hutzelmann (Milford, Pa. | Delaware Valley) and Byer were also members of the 200 free relay, while junior Megan Crutcher (Lancaster, Pa. | Lampeter-Strasburg), Ledyard and Byer made up the 400 medley relay.

Westminster sophomore Kaitlyn Fast (Wooster, Ohio | Wooster) was named the PAC’s Diver of the Year, becoming the first-ever conference diver of the year in program history. She captured the 11-dive, one-meter event Saturday with a winning time of 440.05 points. She was also first in Thursday’s 11-dive, three-meter event, posting a winning score of 429.95.

Fast met the Division III regional qualifying standard in each event.

PAC Swimming Coach of the Year honors went to Grove City 10th-year head coach Dave Fritz.

Westminster’s Heath Calhoun, in his fourth year with the Titans, claimed the PAC’s Diving Coach of the Year award. It is his first coach of the year citation.

The PAC's Sportsmanship Team included: Bethany junior McKenney Bosley (Buckhannon, W.Va. | Buckhannon-Upshur), Chatham junior Jade Marzolf (Cheswick, Pa. | Deer Lakes), Grove City senior Mary Robison (Williamsburg, Va. | Homeschooled), Saint Vincent sophomore Claire Kenna (Chantilly, Va. | Seton School), W&J senior Hayley Georgetti (Washington, Pa. | Linsly) and Westminster sophomore Holly Angelo (Warren,Ohio | Warren G. Harding). 

The PAC’s Sportsmanship Teams were established to recognize student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior and are an ongoing effort to recognize and encourage positive sportsmanship among all of conference teams.

Saint Vincent freshman Marion D’Aurora (Leonardtown, Md. | Saint Marys Ryken) won the 1650 in a school-record time of 17:45.26.

Chatham first-year Mallory Marzolf (Cheswick, Pa. | Deer Lakes) claimed the PAC title in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:04.46. Her time set new pool, PAC open and PAC Championship records.

Saint Vincent junior Maddie Bartrug (Bridgeville, Pa. | South Fayette) won the 100 free with a time of 53.30.

Grove City’s Crutcher won the 200 breaststroke with a B-cut time of 2:22.16.

Chatham capped the night off with a win in the 400 free relay, posting a time of 3:34.65. Members of the relay included Mallory Marzolf, junior Christine Mikita (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Penn Hills), junior Iris Marzolf (Cheswick, Pa. | Deer Lakes) and Jade Marzolf.

Division III’s regional diving championships are scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 2-3. PAC divers that have achieved the regional qualifying standards will participate in the Region 4 (Northeast/South) event, which will be hosted by Ithaca College.

Qualifiers for this year’s Division III Championships are scheduled to be announced at 10 a.m. (EST) on Wednesday, February 28. The Division III Championships are scheduled for Wednesday-Saturday, March 21-24 and are being held at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis. The four-day championship event is being hosted by Franklin College and the Indiana Sports Corporation.