GREENVILLE, Pa. (pacathletics.org)--Grove City College secured the top spot in this year’s Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Swimming and Diving Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The league announced the results of its preseason coaches' poll along with its annual swimmers and divers to watch list Tuesday afternoon. 

Voted on by each of the conference’s six head coaches, the league’s yearly coaches’ poll has been in place since the 2014-15 season.

Grove City, led by 20th-year head coach Dave Fritz, collected four of six first-place votes and 49 total points.  

Westminster College was second in the poll with two first-place votes and 47 points. Saint Vincent College finished third (41 pts.) and was followed by Washington & Jefferson College in fourth (37 pts.), Chatham University in fifth (36 pts.) and Bethany College in sixth (30 pts.). 

Last March, Grove City secured titles in 19 of 20 swimming events during the PAC Championships to claim its third-straight conference team title. It was Grove City's PAC-leading 21st team title. 

Grove City paced last spring's six-team championship field with 1,149 points. Westminster finished as the runner-up with 716 points and was followed by Saint Vincent in third (600), W&J in fourth (358) and Chatham in fifth (257). 

This year’s swimmers and divers to watch list includes 13 returning All-PAC selections, including six All-PAC First Team honorees. Of the 20 events contested at last year’s championships, the winners of eight individual events are mentioned on the list.

Chatham sophomore Karl Gangloff (Bradford, Pa. | Bradford) and Westminster senior Patrick Holton (Livonia, Mich. | Winston Churchill) highlight this year's list.

At the conference championships last spring, Gangloff earned the PAC's Newcomer of the Year award while Holton was named the PAC's Diver of the Year. 

Gangloff became Chatham's first-ever men's individual champion after winning the 1650 in 16:43.05. He also finished as the runner-up in the 500 freestyle (4:48.72) and was fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:46.66). 

Holton prevailed on both the three-meter and one-meter boards at last year's conference championships. He registered a score of 501.50 in the three-meter event before securing a score of 429.40 in the one-meter event. In June Holton was recognized by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches of America (CSCAA) as a member of its NCAA Division III All-America teams for the 2020-21 season.

The swimmers and divers to watch list also includes three members of the PAC’s 2020-21 Academic Honor Roll, which recognizes student-athletes who have earned a grade-point average (GPA) of 3.6 or higher on a 4.0 scale during their semester of competition.

Grove City will once again host the PAC Championships at the James E. Longnecker Competition Pool. Longnecker Pool has been the home of the PAC Championships since 1990. The four-day event is scheduled for Wednesday-Saturday, February 9-12. 

The NCAA Division III Region 4 (Northeast/South) Diving Championships are slated for Friday-Saturday, February 25-26.

The Division III Championships, scheduled for Wednesday-Saturday, March 16-19 at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, are being hosted by the Indiana Sports Corp and Franklin College.
 

2021-22 PAC Men's Swimming and Diving Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of Championships finish)
School (first-place votes)	Points	2020-21 PAC Championships finish
1. Grove City College (4)	49	1st (5), 1149 points
2. Westminster College (2)	47	2nd (5), 716 points
3. Saint Vincent College	41	3rd (5), 600 points
4. Washington & Jefferson College	37	4th (5), 358 points
5. Chatham University	36	5th (5), 257 points
6. Bethany College	30	Did not compete

2021-22 PAC Men's Swimmers and Divers to Watch

Bethany
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Logan Marks	Fr.	Free, IM	West Mifflin, Pa. | West Mifflin
Francisco Ramierez	Fr.	IM	Tapachula, Mexico | Instituto Tapachula A. C.

 

Chatham
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Avery Filey	So.	Back, Free	Pittsburgh, Pa. | Mount Lebanon
Karl Gangloff	So.	Free	Bradford, Pa. | Bradford
Nathan Kerchensky	Jr.	Free	Indiana, Pa. | Indiana
Nate Segall	Fr.	Free, Breast	Pittsburgh, Pa. | Central Catholic

       

Grove City
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Noah Berkebile	Sr.	Fly, Back	San Diego, Calif. | Del Norte
Elias Griffin	Jr.	Breast	Springfield, Va. | West Springfield
Mac Hancock	Jr.	Free, Breast	Brunswick, Ohio | Cuyahoga Valley Christian
Peter Millar	Sr.	Free, Back	Oxford, Pa. | Lancaster Mennonite

 

Saint Vincent
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Chris Bush	Jr.	Free, IM, Breast	Martinsburg, Pa. | Central
Kris Smith	Sr.	Back, IM	Freeport, Grand Bahama | Bishop Michael Eldon

     

W&J
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Colin Higinbotham	Sr.	Fly, Free	Denver, Pa. | Cocalico
Dean Kralic	Sr.	Fly, Back	Beaver Falls, Pa. | Riverside
Nathan Smith	So.	Fly, Back	Fort Defiance, Va. | Fort Defiance

   

Westminster
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Patrick Holton	Sr.	Dive	Livonia, Mich. | Winston Churchill
Jake Musselman	Sr.	Free, Fly	Denver, Pa. | Cocalico
Austin Shaw	Sr.	Dive	Gibsonia, Pa. | Pine-Richland