The Bloomsburg University men's and women swim teams participated in the 2010 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championships beginning on Thursday and ending on Sunday in Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg, this past weekend.
On the first day of the competition, junior John King broke his own school record when he swam the 1,000 free in 9:39.70. During the event, King swam fast enough to yield a finishing time that was about 10 seconds shorter than his previous school record of 9:49.36, which he established in 2009. However, King was not the only swimmer who stood out during the meet on Thursday. On the women's team, freshman Bridget Hilferty came in 10th overall in the 1,000 free with a time of 10.36.97.
The next day the Bloomsburg University's men's and women's team continued to succeed in the competition by breaking school records and establishing personal bests. Sophomore Jeremy Frey broke a school record during the morning prelims and again in the finals. In the finals, Frey swam the 200 IM in 1:54.19 which granted him second place overall. In addition to breaking his own school record, King came in eighth in the 500 free. He swam the 500 free in 4:46.36 at the finals while in the morning he swam a career best for the 500 free in 4.42.16 during the prelims on Friday morning.
At the meet on Friday teammates senior Dave Mancinelli, juniors Derek Straub and Juan Castenada, and sophomore Tim Dorsch established a school record when they swam the 400 medley relay. Their ending time of 3:30.75 put them in fifth place.
On the women's side, senior Allie Reed landed a personal best during the prelims when she swam the 50 free in a time of 24.34. Then that night, Reed landed an NCAA "B" qualifying time for the 50 free with a time of 24.33, finishing seventh overall. Like the men's team, the women's 400 medley relay team set a new school record. The relay team consisted of sophomores Sarah Grawe, Brittany McNeil, freshman Madeline Barlow, and Reed. They came in ninth overall in a time of 3:58.27.
On Saturday, Castaneda won first place in the 100-butterfly at the PSAC swimming championships. He broke his own record in this event in a finishing time of 50.21 during the prelims. Then in the finals he swam the event in 50.03. Due to his finishing time, Castaneda won the title of the first individual men's PSAC champion in over a decade of competition.
On Sunday, Ben Safran qualified for an NCAA "B" cut time after placing third in the 200-fly with a time of 1:55.23. Safran also made another notable achievement when made school history by swimming the second fastest time ever. On the women's team, sophomore Miranda Steel also qualified for an NCAA "B" cut time.
The Bloomsburg University teams concluded the 2010 PSAC Championships with the women's team taking seventh place overall with 242 points and the men's team finishing fifth overall with 380 points. In addition, the team established eight new team records, made 17 NCAA "B" cut times, and picked up one conference champion.
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this article! Log in to Comment
You must be logged in to comment on an article. Not already a member? Register now