Feb. 19, 2008

(CLARION, PA.): The 33rd Annual PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) Women's Swimming Championships will be hosted from Thursday February 21st through Sunday February 24th at Cumberland Valley High School.

Only one event, the 1000 meter freestyle, will be competed on Thursday at 6:00pm. From Friday through Sunday prelims are set each day at 10am and finals are slated to start at 6pm. The Men's PSAC Championship will also run at the same time in an alternating event format.

Tickets for the championship will be on sale at the door. All SSHE Students with vaild ID are admitted free. For adults its $5 for prelims, $7 for finals or an all-session pass at $35. Student prices are $2 per session and $10 for an all-session pass.

The PSAC Women's Championship has plenty of tradition. Clarion has won 26 of the 32 PSAC Championships determined since 1976. The PSAC Women's Championship started in 1976 with Clarion winning the first team title, then the Golden Eagles proceeded to run off a total of 23 straight PSAC Championships through 1998. In 1999 IUP broke the string of Clarion wins, then Clarion bounced back to win again in 2000. West Chester bolted to the front and won three straight titles from 2001-2003 before Clarion came back to win in 2004. West Chester won the team title in 2005, Clarion bounced back to win the 2006 crown and West Chester won last year.

The 2007 championships was held at Cumberland Valley High School with West Chester taking team honors with 810 points, Clarion second with 562 and Indiana third at 381. A thirteen team field, Shippensburg was fourth with 377, Bloomsburg fifth with 338, Edinboro sixth at 253, Kutztown seventh with 213.5, California eighth with 190, Lock Haven ninth with 161.5, Millersville tenth at 92, Slippery Rock eleventh with 88, East Stroudsburg twelfth with 86 and Mansfield thirteenth with 51 points.

Clarion hosted the 2006 PSAC Championship at W.S. Tippin Natatorium. The Golden Eagles won the team title scoring 928.5 points, with West Chester second at 890.5 and IUP third with 578. Rounding out the 13-team field were fourth place Bloomsburg at 489, Shippensburg fifth with 417.5, Lock Haven sixth with 341, California seventh at 317.5, Edinboro eighth with 268, Kutztown ninth with 256, Slippery Rock tenth with 212, East Stroudsburg eleventh at 149, Millersville twelfth with 121 and Mansfield thirteenth with 64 points.

West Chester won the team title in its own pool in 2005 scoring 1,073 points, while Clarion was second with 883 and IUP third with 553. Rounding out the thirteen team field were Bloomsburg fourth with 454, Shippensburg fifth at 401, California sixth with 396.5, Kutztown seventh at 268, Slippery Rock eighth with 256, Lock Haven ninth at 210, East Stroudsburg tenth with 207.5, Edinboro eleventh with 180, Millersville twelfth at 112 and Mansfield thirteenth with 66 points.

In 2004 Clarion took the team title with 894.5 points, while West Chester finished second with 773 and Shippensburg was third with 408 and host IUP was fourth with 395.5. Rounding out the 13 team field were fifth place Bloomsburg with 288, Lock Haven sixth at 268, Slippery Rock seventh with 249.5, Kutztown eighth with 230, California ninth with 225.5, East Stroudsburg tenth with 216, Edinboro eleventh with 70, Millersville twelfth at 56 and Mansfield thirteenth with 51.

The 2008 Women's Championship? "West Chester is the favorite coming in," said eighth year Clarion head coach Mark VanDyke. "West Chester is favored on the psych sheet to win a majority of the individual events. If Clarion is to challenge for the title, we'll have to hit our tapers perfectly, have strong depth scoring, and have West Chester a little off their tapers. The team scoring after Saturday night will show if we have any chance".

Clarion's women finished the 2008 season with a 9-4 dual meet record, with three losses to NCAA D-I schools. Clarion will have 14 swimmers participating including in alpha order: Margaret Bentley (So. Fly/IM, York), Morgan Berkowitz (Jr., Free/Breast, York), Rebecca Burgess (So., Free/Breast, Gibsonia), Sari Cattoni (Sr., IM/Breast, Lewis Run), Stevie Coble (Sr., Free, Akron), Kelly Connolly (Fr. Breast/Free, Cranberry Twp.), Laura Herron (Fr. Free/IM, Parma, Oh.), Kaitlyn Johnson (Fr. Free/Fly, Uniontown), Mary Kaveney (Jr. Free/Back, Erie), Lori Leitzinger (Sr., Free/Back, State College), Jamie Maloney (So., Free/Breast, York), Gina Mattucci (Fr. Free, Jeannette), Denise Simens (Jr., Breast, Hollister, Ca.), Carissa Wetzel (Fr. Free/Fly, Allentown).

According to coach VanDyke the Clarion swimmers likely to challenge for an individual title will be Lori Leitzinger in the 100 and 200 backstroke, Kaitlyn Johnson in the 50 free and 100 fly and Denise Simens in the 100 breaststroke. Leitzinger is the #1 seed in the 200 back with a time of 2:03.71 and is the defending champion, winning last year with a time of 2:07.77. She was second in the 100 back. Johnson is #2 in the 100 fly (58.45), and Simens the #2 seed in the 100 breast at 1:06.43. Stevie Coble was second in the 1650 last year and could challenge again this year.

Clarion is currently seeded #2 in all the relays behind West Chester. Clarion's best chance to take a relay is in the 200 free where the Eagles trail in seed time by only 15 hundredths of a second.

CLARION NOTES: Clarion won only the 200 free relay two ears year ago and still won its 26th PSAC Championship with plenty of depth scoring ... Each swimmer can swim a maximum of 7 events this weekend and no more than three individual events... In school history Clarion has won 8 NCAA titles (1977, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84 & 86)... Clarion will be at the NCAA D-II Nationals on March 12-15 in Columbia, Missouri ..... In 1999 IUP dethroned the Golden Eagles in the closest meet in PSAC history (399.5 - 396.5). In 2000, at IUP, Clarion took the title back scoring 446 points, while West Chester was second with 426.5 and IUP was third with 370.5. Other close PSAC finishes saw Clarion win by 14.5 over IUP in 1998 and 23.5 over Bloomsburg in 1991...2008 marks the 12th year diving was eliminated from the PSAC Championship... Diving remains an integral part of the NCAA Championship.