CLARION, Pa. – The Golden Eagle women’s swimming and diving team won their second straight dual in convincing fashion on Friday night, defeating Shippensburg 201-42 at Tippin Natatorium to improve to 2-0 in duals this year.
For the second straight meet the Golden Eagles excelled not just in raw speed, but also in the execution of racing strategy and fundamental details. As such, Clarion stacked points in a number of events, posting finishes where the top-two or top-three place-winners were all Golden Eagles.
“This is such a special group, and they are hungrier than ever,” said head coach Bree Kelley. “Today I told them to race, be competitive and aggressive, and swim like we train. It’s nice to see their hard work paying off.”
The good vibes were coming from the diving well too, as Sadie Coda and Anna Vogt both hit NCAA qualifying marks in the 1m Dive. Coda recorded a score of 427.13 to lead the field, while Vogt took second with a mark of 420.45. Alexa Gonczi, who hit an NCAA mark earlier this season, won the 3m Dive with a score of 279.45.
After the 400 Medley Relay team of Stephanie Setar, Sydney Davidson, Autumn Fortney and Haley Miller opened the meet with a win, the first such instance of stacking points occurred in the 1000 Free. Sarah Murray cruised to a time of 11:09.56 for the first-place finish, followed shortly by Maddy Murphy, who took second with a time of 11:22.64. The Golden Eagle lead deepened after the 200 Free, as Clarion took 1-2-3 to score 16 of a possible 19 points in the event. Jordan Kutchak hit a PSAC qualifying mark of 2:00.13 to win the event, Hailey Miller took second with a time of 2:03.87, and Mandy Dial rounded out the top-three with a time of 2:04.11.
Hannah Greenway scored her first win of the night in the 50 Free, coming within two-tenths of a second of an NCAA B cut with a time of 24.13. Corina Paszek followed with in a first-place mark in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 2:16.07. Then came the second 1-2-3 finish of the night for the Golden Eagles, this time in the 200 Fly. Autumn Fortney hit a PSAC qualifying mark of 2:19.39 to pace the field, with Michaela Hinkson just a second behind her with a PSAC standard of 2:20.60. Courtney Kosanovic took third, hitting the wall in 2:23.93.
Clarion pulled the top-three trick once more in the 100 Free, with Greenway leading the pac with a time of 53.68. Miller placed second with a 55.94, and Paszek helped stack the points with a third-place finish in 56.51. Setar notched the win in the 200 Back with a time of 2:14.17, and the duo of Kutchak and Murray took the top two spots in the 500 Free.
The Golden Eagles pulled in scads of points in the final individual event of the event, sweeping all 19 in the 200 Breaststroke by featuring the top five finishers. Each of the top-five hit PSAC qualifying marks, led by Tidawee Srun’s leading time of 2:27.40. Kennedy Bass was next at 2:31.83, followed by Candice Chalus (2:34.32), Mandy Dial (2:35.34), and Hailey Fry (2:35.67). The team wrapped things up with another relay win, as the 400 Free Relay squad cruised to a time of 3:42.29.
