GREENVILLE, Pa. (pacathletics.org)--Grove City College claimed the top spot in this year’s Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Women'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 seven head coaches, the league’s preseason coaches’ poll has been in place since the 2014-15 season.

Grove City, directed by 13th-year head coach Dave Fritz, earned six of seven first-place votes and 60 total points. 

Westminster College was second in the poll with one first-place vote and 55 points. Saint Vincent College finished third (49 pts.) and was followed by Chatham University in fourth (45 pts.), Washington & Jefferson College in fifth (40 pts.), Franciscan University in sixth (36 pts.) and Bethany College in seventh (30 pts.). 

Last March, Grove City won titles in four of the final nine events contested during the last two sessions of the PAC Championships to secure the program's second-straight team title. Grove City has won a PAC-best 18 team championships. Grove City paced last year's seven-team championship field with 1,025.50 points. Westminster was the runner-up with 778.50 points. Saint Vincent finished third (592) and was followed by Chatham in fourth (366), W&J in fifth (365), Franciscan in sixth (288) and Bethany in seventh (3).

This year’s swimmers and divers to watch list includes 16 returning All-PAC selections, including nine 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.

Headlining this year’s list are Grove City junior Rachael Wallace (Hopwell, Pa. | Hopewell, Grove City sophomore Liz Hasse (East Earl, Pa. | Homeschooled) and W&J sophomore Taylor Weyrich (McMurray, Pa. | Seton LaSalle). 

At the conference championships last spring, Wallace was named the PAC's Swimmer of the Year while Hasse earned the PAC's Newcomer of the Year award. Weyrich was named the PAC's Diver of the Year.

Wallace earned three individual titles and competed on three victorious relay squads. She won the 50 freestyle (24.30), the 100 butterfly (57.48) and 200 butterfly (2:06.71). She swam butterfly on the 200 medley relay (1:49.77), anchored the 200 freestyle relay (1:37.52) and led off the 400 freestyle relay (3:33.93). 

Hasse won the 200 freestyle (1:56.67), was the runner-up in the 100 freestyle (52.80) and finished fourth in the 50 freestyle (24.85). She anchored Grove City's winning 400 freestyle (3:33.93) and 800 freestyle (7:56.48) relays.  

Weyrich prevailed on the one-meter board and finished as the runner-up on the three-meter board at last year's conference championships. She posted a score of 407.80 in the one-meter event after finishing as the runner-up in the three-meter event (359.95). Weyrich is W&J's first diver of the year award winner since Jennifer Suder won it three-straight times (2013-15). In June she 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 10 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 Women'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 (6)	60	1st (7), 1025.50 points
2. Westminster College (1)	55	2nd (7), 778.50 points
3. Saint Vincent College	49	3rd (7), 592 points
4. Chatham University	45	4th (7), 366 points
5. Washington & Jefferson College	40	5th (7), 365 points
6. Franciscan University	36	6th (7), 288 points
7. Bethany College	30	7th (7), 3 points

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

Bethany
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Jordan Hasklacker	Fr.	Free	Augusta, W.Va. | Hampshire
Aidah Shuttleworth	Fr.	Free, Breast	Beavercreek, Ohio | Chaminade Julienne

 

Chatham
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Maddy Cisco	Fr.	Free, Back	Greensburg, Pa. | Hempfield
Ali Cowan	Fr.	Dive	Derry, Pa. | Derry
Amy Jarvis	Fr.	Free	Williamsport, Pa. | Williamsport

 

Franciscan
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Colleen Farabaugh	Sr.	Free, IM	Charlottesville, Va. | Albemarle
Kristen Farabaugh	Fr.	Free, IM	Charlottesville, Va. | Albemarle
Olivia Mete	Jr.	Breast	Welland, Ontario | Notre Dame College School
Katie McKenzie	So.	Fly	Columbus, Ohio | Upper Arlington

       

Grove City
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Sarah Gann	Jr.	Free, Fly	Council Bluffs, Iowa | Lewis Central
Rachel Grubbs	Jr.	Back, Free	Industry, Pa. | Western Beaver
Liz Hasse	So.	Free	East Earl, Pa. | Homeschooled
Rachel Ledford	Jr.	IM, Back	Butler, Pa. | Homeschooled
Rachael Wallace	Jr.	Fly, Free	Hopewell, Pa. | Hopewell

 

Saint Vincent
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Sara Basala	Jr.	Breast	Somerset, Pa. | Somerset
Lauren Connors	Jr.	Back, IM	Pittsburgh, Pa. | Upper St. Clair
Katie Kozy	Jr.	Free, Fly	Pittsburgh, Pa. | Carlynton

     

W&J
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Amanda Graves	So.	Back, Free	Irwin, Pa. | Penn-Trafford
Ainsley Huang	Fr.	Free	Portola Valley, Calif. | Summit Prep.
Molly Nielsen	So.	Free	Erie, Pa. | Harbor Creek
Kimber Randolph	Sr.	Fly, Back, Breast	Greensburg, Pa. | Hempfield
Taylor Weyrich	So.	Dive	McMurray, Pa. | Seton LaSalle

   

Westminster
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Marissa Bowers	Sr.	Back	Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio | Cuyahoga Falls
Baylee Horvath	Jr.	Free	Murrysville, Pa. | Franklin Regional
Megan Routch	Sr.	Free	Imperial, Pa. | West Allegheny