TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Grove City College was selected as the favorite in 2023-24 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 Friday morning. 

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

Grove City, directed by 15th-year head coach Dave Fritz, earned seven of eight first-place votes and 77 total points. 

Saint Vincent College was second in the poll with 70 points, while Westminster College came in third with one first place vote and 65 points.

Allegheny College came in fourth place with 55 points, just ahead of Franciscan University in fifth with 54 points. Taking sixth was Allegheny College with 47 points, followed by Chatham University with 44 points and Bethany College with 36 points.

Grove City secured its fourth-straight PAC title last February, which was the program’s PAC-best 20th team title. Grove City paced the seven-team field with 1,069 points, ahead of Saint Vincent with 668 points in second and Westminster in third with 588 points. 

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

Featured on this year’s list are Grove City fifth-year Rachael Wallace (Hopewell, Pa./Hopewell), last year's PAC Swimmer of the Year, while Wolverine junior Kamryn Kerr (East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids) earned the PAC's Diver of the Year award. The PAC Newcomer of the Year distinction went to Franciscan sophomore Katarina Antonov (Ocala, Fla./Vanguard).

In winning the Swimmer of the Year award, Wallace won the 100 Fly and 200 Individual Medley at last year's championships, while also contributing to victories in the 200 and 400 Medley Relays, along with the 200 Free Relay.

Kerr swept both events on the boards to earn top diver honors in the conference. She won 3-meter diving with 402.15 points and recorded a winning sum of 408.55 points on the 1-meter board. 

Antonov became the first Baron in program history to win an event at PAC Championships when she took first place in the 1650 Free. She broke the school record in the event with a time of 18:31.46, which gave her a 2023 PAC title to go along with her runner-up finish in the 500 Free at Championships. 

The swimmers and divers to watch list also includes eight members of the PAC’s 2022-2023 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 serve as host the PAC Championships at the James E. Longnecker Competition Pool, which has been the home of the PAC Championships since 1990. The four-day event is scheduled for Wednesday-Saturday, February 14-17. 

The NCAA Division III Region 4 (Northeast/South) Diving Championships are slated for Friday-Saturday, March 1-2.

The Division III Championships are scheduled for Wednesday-Saturday, March 20-23 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. The event will be hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). 
 

2023-24 PAC Women's Swimming and Diving Preseason Coaches' Poll (Predicted order of Championships finish)
School (first-place votes)	Points	2022-23 Championships finish
1. Grove City College (7)	77	1st (of 8) at PAC Championships, 1069 pts.
2. Saint Vincent College	70	2nd (of 8) at PAC Championships, 668 pts.
3. Westminster College (1)	65	3rd (of 8) at PAC Championships, 588 pts.
4. Allegheny College	55	4th (of 8), at PAC Championships, 466 pts.
5. Franciscan University	54	5th (of 8) at PAC Championships, 307 pts.
6. Washington & Jefferson College	47	8th (of 8) at PAC Championships, 127 pts.
7. Chatham University	44	6th (of 8) at PAC Championships, 167 pts.
8. Bethany College	36	7th (of 8) at PAC Championships, 136 pts.

2023-24 PAC Women's Swimmers and Divers to Watch

Allegheny
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown/High School
Olivia Kraus	Sr.	Free, Fly	Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny
Josephine Reiter	So.	Free, Breast	Pittsburgh, Pa./CAPA

 

Bethany
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown/High School
Aeriale Knopsnider	So.	Free, Back	Normalville, Pa./Connellsville
Catharina Recabeitia	So.	IM, Back	Buenos Aires, Argentina/ Escuela normal superior “Vicente Fatone”

 

Chatham
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown/High School
Ali Cowan	Jr.	Diving	Derry, Pa./Derry
Abigail Glasspool	Sr.	Free, Fly, Back	Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum
Siera Schmitt	Fr.	Breast, Fly, IM	Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford

 

Franciscan
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown/High School
Katarina Antonov	So.	Free	Ocala, Fla./Vanguard
Madeline Dietrich	Fr.	Free	Berkey, Ohio/Homeschooled
Jessica Stiles	Jr.	Fly, Back	Fort Wayne, Indiana/Blythewood
Janie Whatley	Fr.	Free, Breast	Fredericksburg, Va./Mountain View

       

Grove City
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown/High School
Liz Hasse	Sr.	Free	East Earl, Pa./Homeschooled
Kamryn Kerr	Jr.	Diving	East Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids
Emma Plank	Jr.	Free, IM	Slippery Rock, Pa./Portersville Christian
Ashley Rauhauser	Fr.	Back, IM	York, Pa./Homeschooled
Rachael Wallace	5th	Fly, IM	Hopewell, Pa./Hopewell

 

Saint Vincent
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown/High School
Sarah Alexander	Jr.	Free	Catonsville, Md./Mount deSales Academy
Abby Leskovansky	Jr.	Free, Back	Houtzdale, Pa./Homeschooled
Emma Martz	So.	IM, Breast	Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield

 

W&J
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown/High School
Luna Balzano	Fr.	Free, Fly	El Portal, Fla./Broward Virtual School
Sophie Garrett	Fr.	Free, Back	Cincinnati, Ohio/Saint Ursula Academy
Amanda Graves	Sr.	Free, Back	Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford
Maddie Malone	Fr.	Breast, Free	Charlottesville, Va./Monticello
Taylor Newton	Jr.	Free	Olyphant, Pa./Scranton Prep

   

Westminster
Name	Yr.	Events	Hometown/High School
Preslie Bodine	Fr.	Breast	Poland, Ohio/Poland Seminary
Christina Loewe	Jr.	Fly, Breast	Austin, Texas/Veritas Academy
Sara MacMurdo	Jr.	Free	Pittsburgh, Pa./Carlynton
Maddy McClain	Fr.	Free	Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth Forward
Alexa Young	So.	Diving	Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon