Men's Swimming and Diving | 10/9/2026 10:00:00 AM
TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Winners of eight consecutive and 26 overall championships, Grove City College earned first place in the 2026-27 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Men's Swimming and Diving Preseason Coaches' Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches. The conference announced the results of its balloting, as well as its annual swimmers and divers to watch list, on Friday.
Grove City and 25th-year head coach Dave Fritz picked up eight of the nine first-place votes to post 64 points. With the final first-place vote, Saint Vincent College scored 54 points to come in second, while Washington & Jefferson College finished third with 49 points. Westminster College totaled 45 points to rank fourth in the poll, with Hiram College coming in fifth (35 points), Chatham University in sixth (28), Allegheny College in seventh (26) and Bethany College (15). Saint Francis University was not counted in the 2026-27 poll, but is represented by three swimmers on the Watch List.
The 2026-27 season will be Saint Francis' first in the PAC and the first as a varsity men's program, as the Red Wolves start conference competition while reclassifying from Division I to Division III. Saint Francis, whose results will not count in the conference during SFU's reclassifying process, begins its initial year when the Red Wolves swim at the PennWest California Invitationals Oct. 9-10.
At the 2025-26 PAC Championship meet, Grove City amassed 1,063 total points to secure its eight title in a row and 26th championship, the third year in a row the Wolverines surpassed 1,000 points at the meet. Coming in second place was Saint Vincent with 710 points, the highest point total by a runner-up since 2023 (Westminster-748). W&J scored 697 to place third overall, while Hiram College totaled 298 to take fourth place.
Josh Gurekovich, who has been the Saint Vincent swimming coach since the program's inception in 2004, was named the PAC Men's Coach of the Year for the first time in his tenure following the Bearcats' runner-up finish, while W&J's Josh Vasko was named the PAC Diving Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
This season's swimmers and divers to watch list includes all three major award winners and 12 returning All-PAC selections, 10 who earned First Team All-PAC accolades. Four of those on the watch list combined to win 10 individual events a year ago.
Headlining the list is Grove City senior Owen Hancock (Brunswick, Ohio/Westside Christian), whose performance at championships included three individual PAC titles, four relay crowns and six conference records as he earned PAC Swimmer of the Year. His individual wins included PAC records in the 200 Individual Medley (1:51.53), 100 Butterfly (47.52) and 100 Backstroke (48.86). Hancock also swam legs on first-place 200 Medley (1:28.04), 400 Medley (3:17.57), 200 Free (1:21.24) and 400 Free (3:03.52) relays.
The returning PAC Newcomer of the Year is Saint Vincent sophomore William Schauss (Seabrook, Texas/Homeschooled), the first Bearcat men's swimmer to collect the top newcomer honor. He swam to PAC titles in the 500 (4:45.47) and 1,650 (16:44.73) Freestyles and was the runner up in the 400 IM.
Back after collecting his second consecutive PAC Diver of the Year award was W&J junior Zach Lloyd (Dillsburg, Pa./Lloyd Academy-Homeschooled) after he repeated as both the one-meter and three-meter champion. Following his win in three-meter diving with a finals score of 437.52, Lloyd posted an NCAA Regional Qualifying score of 434.82 to capture his second PAC championship on the one-meter board.
In addition to Hancock, Grove City has another multi-time champion back in sophomore George Witte (Columbia, S.C./Covenant Classical Christian), who was last year's winner in the 200 Free (1:41.74) and 200 Back (1:51.66)
The swimmers and divers to watch list also includes 10 members of the PAC's 2025-26 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 be the site of the PAC Championships once again at the James E. Longnecker Competition Pool, which has been the home of the PAC Championships since 1990. The four-day event will be Wednesday-Saturday, February 17-20.
The Division III Championships are set for Wednesday-Saturday, March 17-20 in Greensboro, N.C. The event will be hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and Greensboro Aquatic Center
2026-27 PAC Men's Swimming and Diving Preseason Coaches' Poll
(Predicted order of Championships finish) |
| School (first-place votes) |
Points |
2025-26 Championships finish |
| 1. Grove City College (8) |
64 |
1st (of 8) at PAC Championships, 1063 pts. |
| 2. Saint Vincent College (1) |
54 |
2nd (of 8) at PAC Championships, 710 pts. |
| 3. Washington & Jefferson College |
49 |
3rd (of 8) at PAC Championships, 697 pts. |
| 4. Westminster College |
45 |
5th (of 8) at PAC Championships, 235 pts. |
| 5. Hiram College |
35 |
4th (of 8) at PAC Championships, 298 pts. |
| 6. Chatham University |
28 |
5th (of 8) at PAC Championships, 213 pts. |
| 7. Allegheny College |
26 |
7th (of 8) at PAC Championships, 150 pts. |
| 8. Bethany College |
15 |
8th (of 8) at PAC Championships, 0 pts. |
| Saint Francis University* |
|
First year as varsity program |
* - Ineligible for PAC Championship as school reclassifies from Division I
2026-27 Men's Swimmers and Divers to Watch
| 1=2025-26 1st Team All-PAC / 2=2nd Team All-PAC / HM = Honorable Mention |
| Allegheny |
| Name |
Yr. |
Events |
Hometown/High School |
| Logan Byers |
Fr. |
Breast/Fly/Sprint |
Oil City, Pa./Homeschooled |
| Christian Habusta |
Sr. |
Free/Breast |
Erie, Pa./Fairview |
| Sam Kohler |
Jr. |
Distance Free/Fly |
Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth |
| Ryan Owen |
So. |
Breast/IM |
Weirton, W.Va./Weir |
| Bethany |
| Name |
Yr. |
Events |
Hometown/High School |
| Corbin Henry |
So. |
Free/Back |
Martinsburg, W.Va./Martinsburg |
| Adam Kotson |
So. |
Free |
Flushing, Ohio/The Linsly School |
| Chatham |
| Name |
Yr. |
Events |
Hometown/High School |
| Zach Damazo |
Fr. |
Diving |
York, Pa./Central York |
| Calum Hockman |
Jr. |
Back/Free |
Williamsport, Pa./South Williamsport |
| Damien Mauro |
Fr. |
Distance |
New Kensington, Pa./Valley |
| Max Rollins |
Jr. |
Sprint/Back |
Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg |
| Caleb Trainum |
Sr. |
Fly |
Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan |
| Grove City |
| Name |
Yr. |
Events |
Hometown/High School |
| Andrew Buxbaum (1) |
Sr. |
Breast/IM |
Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan |
| Owen Hancock (1) |
Sr. |
Fly/Back/IM |
Brunswick, Ohio/Westside Christian Academy |
| CJ Mayhew (1) |
Sr. |
Distance/IM |
Gaithersburg, Md./Homeschooled |
| Bryce Pope (1) |
Sr. |
Breast/IM |
Wilmington, Del./Delaware Valley Classical School |
| George Witte (1) |
So. |
Fly/Back |
Columbia, S.C./Covenant Classical Christian |
| Hiram |
| Name |
Yr. |
Events |
Hometown/High School |
| Ethan Drake |
Jr. |
IM |
Trenton, Mich./Trenton |
| Joe Krosky |
Sr. |
Fly |
Brecksville, Ohio/Brecksville-Broadview Heights |
| Ethan O'Malley |
Sr. |
Free |
Warren, Ohio/Warren G. Harding |
| Noah Parrott |
Fr. |
Back |
Medina, Ohio/Buckeye |
| David Slovenkay |
Sr. |
Back |
Mentor, Ohio/Mentor |
| Saint Francis |
| Name |
Yr. |
Events |
Hometown/High School |
| Thomas Corcoran |
Fr. |
Free/Back |
Ebensburg, Pa./Central Cambria |
| Jack Lutter |
Fr. |
Breast/Distance |
Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove |
| Michael Makdad |
Fr. |
Fly/Sprint |
Boone, N.C./Watauga |
| Saint Vincent |
| Name |
Yr. |
Events |
Hometown/High School |
| Levi Kruper-Peck |
Fr. |
Free/IM |
|
| Liam Randolph (1) |
Sr. |
IM/Breast |
Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield |
| Will Schauss (1) |
So. |
Distance/IM |
Seabrook, Texas/Homeschooled |
| W&J |
| Name |
Yr. |
Events |
Hometown/High School |
| Will Angus (1) |
Sr. |
Diving |
Grafton, W.Va./Grafton |
| Kody Griffith |
Fr. |
Distance |
Indiana, Pa./Indiana Area |
| Dan Jeffries (2) |
Sr. |
Back/Sprint |
Irwin, Pa./Hempfield |
| Zach Lloyd (1) |
Jr. |
Diving |
Dillsburg, Pa./Lloyd Academy (Homeschooled) |
| Aiden Marks (2) |
Sr. |
Free |
West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin |
| Westminster |
| Name |
Yr. |
Events |
Hometown/High School |
| David Atamian |
Fr. |
Free |
Fontana, Calif./Etiwanda |
| Jack Katigbak (1) |
Jr. |
Back/Free |
North Canton, Ohio/Lake Center Christian |
| Gunnar Probst |
Fr. |
Free |
Latrobe, Pa./Mount Pleasant |