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 Thursday afternoon. 

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

Grove City, led by 21st-year head coach Dave Fritz, collected six of seven first-place votes and 66 total points.  

Westminster College was second in the poll with one first-place vote and 59 points. 

Allegheny College finished third with 57 points. Allegheny announced its return to the PAC on August 23, 2021 after a 38-year run as a founding member of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). Allegheny was a PAC member from 1958 through the spring of 1984 and reentered the PAC as its 11th full-time member on July 1, 2022. 

Saint Vincent College finished fourth (52 pts.) and was followed by Washington & Jefferson College in fifth (45 pts.), Chatham University in sixth (42 pts.) and Bethany College in seventh (36 pts.).

Last February Grove City claimed its fourth-straight PAC title. It was the program’s PAC-best 22nd team title. Grove City paced the six-team field with 1,055 points. 

This year’s swimmers and divers to watch list includes 12 returning All-PAC selections, including nine All-PAC First Team honorees. Of the 20 events contested at last year’s championships, the winners of 11 individual events are mentioned on the list.

Chatham junior Karl Gangloff (Bradford, Pa. | Bradford), Westminster graduate student Patrick Holton (Livonia, Mich. | Winston Churchill) and Grove City sophomore Owen Schulze (Ellicott City, Md. | Rockbrige) highlight this year's list. At the conference championships last winter Gangloff earned the PAC Swimmer of the Year award, Holton claimed the PAC Diver of the Year award for the second-straight year and Schultze was named the PAC Newcomer of the Year. 

Gangloff, Chatham's first-ever men's PAC Swimmer of the Year honoree, was also recognized as the league's newcomer of the year in 2020-21. Last year he won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4 minutes, 47.50 seconds and won the 1650 freestyle (16:40.53) for the second-straight year. He also finished fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:47.34). Gangloff led off Chatham's sixth-place 200 freestyle relay (1:43.01), swam butterfly on the sixth-place 200 medley (1:54.73) amd 400 medley (4:13.66) relays and led off the sixth-place 400 freestyle relay (3:50.23). 

Holton prevailed on both the 3-meter board and the 1-meter board for the second-straight year, finishing with a score of 521.05 points on the 3-meter board and a score of 492.65 on the 1-meter board. He surpassed the qualifying standards on both boards for the NCAA Division III Region 4 (Northeast/South) Diving Championships, where he posted runner-up finishes on both the 3-meter and 1-meter boards. He registered a score of 492.15 in the 3-meter, 11-dive event and a score of 466.70 in the 1-meter, 11-dive event. Holton captured All-America honors at the Division III Championships with a sixth-place showing on the 3-meter board (493.35). He was 10th on the 1-meter board (440.10) at the national championships. 

Schulze won the 100 freestyle (46.47) and the 200 freestyle (1:42.70). He was also the runner-up in the 50 freestyle (21.32). Schulze led off the winning 200 freestyle relay (1:23.81), the 400 freestyle relay (3:07.29) and the 800 freestyle relay (7:14.04). He also swam freestyle on the ninth-place 200 medley relay (1:38.71). 

The programs at Chatham, Grove City, Saint Vincent, W&J and Westminster were honored in June by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) as Scholar All-America teams for the spring 2022 semester. Holton was also recognized as a CSCAA First Team Scholar All-America, an award recognizing student-athletes who achieved a grade-point average of 3.50 or higher and were invited to compete at their respective national championship.

The swimmers and divers to watch list also includes four members of the PAC’s 2021-22 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 15-18. 

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

The Division III Championships are scheduled for Wednesday-Saturday, March 15-18 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. The event will be hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). 
 

2022-23 PAC Men's Swimming and Diving Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of Championships finish)
School (first-place votes)	Points	2021-22 Championships finish
1. Grove City College (6)	66	1st (of 6) at PAC Championships, 1055 pts.
2. Westminster College (1)	59	2nd (of 6) at PAC Championships, 906 pts.
3. Allegheny College	57	7th (of 10) at NCAC Championships, 589.50 pts.
4. Saint Vincent College	52	4th (of 6) at PAC Championships, 407 pts.
5. Washington & Jefferson College	45	3rd (of 6) at PAC Championships, 410 pts.
6. Chatham University	42	5th (of 6) at PAC Championships, 200 pts.
7. Bethany College	36	6th (of 6) at PAC Championships, 183 pts.

2022-23 Men's Swimmers and Divers to Watch

Allegheny
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Dan Jackson	So.	Breast, IM	Warwick, N.Y. | Warwick Valley
Pierre Jaeggi	Sr.	Free, Fly	Fountain Valley, Calif. | Valient Prep.
Dalton Lodzins	Sr.	Free, IM	Anchorage, Alaska | Chugiak
Jack Malnar	So.	Free, Fly	Brecksville, Ohio | Brecksville-Broadview Heights
Emmett Manning	Jr.	Free, Fly	Holmdel, N.J. | Holmdel

 

Bethany
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Logan Marks	So.	Free, IM	West Mifflin, Pa. | West Mifflin

 

Chatham
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Karl Gangloff	Jr.	Free	Bradford, Pa. | Bradford
Brady Gardner	Fr.	Free, Back	Clinton, Pa. | West Allegheny
Jacob Yarosz	Fr.	Free, Back	Pittsburgh, Pa. | North Allegheny

         

Grove City
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Caleb Einolf	Fr.	IM	Quakertown, Pa. | Quakertown
Elias Griffin	Sr.	Breast	Springfield, Va. | West Springfield
Mac Hancock	Sr.	Free	Brunswick, Ohio | Cuyahoga Valley Christian
Owen Schulze	So.	Free	Ellicott City, Md. | Rockbridge
Will Sterrett	Fr.	IM	Wilmington, N.C. | Hoggard

 

Saint Vincent
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Jacob Dzurica	Fr.	Back	Greensburg, Pa. | Hempfield
Nick Jackman	Fr.	Free	Sebastian, Fla. | Sebastian River
Kris Smith	Sr.	IM, Back	Freeport, Grand Bahama | Bishop Michael Eldon

     

W&J
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Andy Ma	Sr.	Breast	Los Alamitos, Calif. | Los Alamitos
Melvin McRae	Fr.	IM, Back	Lillington, N.C. | Overhills
Aidan Miller	Fr.	Free	Grove City, Ohio | St. Charles Prep.
Esteban Sanchez-Sink	Fr.	Free	Lansing, Mich. | East Lansing
Nathan Smith	Jr.	Fly, Back	Fort Defiance, Va. | Fort Defiance

   

Westminster
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown | High School
Stephen Adametz	Sr.	Fly	Glenshaw, Pa. | Shaler
Sam Duda	So.	IM, Free	Tulsa Okla. | Bishop Kelley
Patrick Holton	Gr.	Dive	Livonia, Mich. | Winston Churchill
Paul Kallaur	Jr.	Breast	Bethel Park, Pa. | Homeschooled